Thousands of students, parents, teachers, and community leaders will participate in National School Choice Week by gathering in Montgomery on Tuesday, January 26.

At 11 a.m. on the south lawn of the Alabama State Capitol, Governor Robert Bentley, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, and President and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama William Canary will join more than 4,000 supporters celebrating educational opportunity in Alabama. Attendees and speakers will represent all types of educational options – traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online academies, and home schools.

The goal of the event is to celebrate the educational opportunity available in the Yellowhammer State.

The celebration is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week (January 24-30, 2016), which will be America’s largest-ever celebration of opportunity in education, with more than 16,000 events being planned.

“We are extremely excited to celebrate school choice in Alabama this year,” said Chad Mathis, state chairman of the Alabama Federation for Children. “With more educational opportunities for parents than ever before in our state, we have so many great stories to spotlight this year for National School Choice Week."

“We look forward to raising awareness about the impact that school choice makes in Alabama,” said Lesley Searcy, executive director of the Alabama Opportunity Scholarship Fund. “Whether a student learns best in a traditional public school, public charter school, magnet school, private school, online academy, or home school, we want to support their ability to do so.”

The celebration is being planned by a number of organizations, including Alabama Opportunity Scholarship Fund, Alabama Federation for Children, Students First Alabama, Alabama Public Charter School Alliance, Business Education Alliance, Business Council of Alabama, and Public School Options.

Held every January, National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort designed to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options for every child. Through thousands of independently planned events across the country, National School Choice Week raises public awareness of all types of educational choices available to children. These options include traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling.