EdNews Virginia | January 24, 2025
January 26 – February 1 is “Virginia School Choice Week,” Governor Glenn Youngkin has officially declared. In a proclamation, the governor notes that “educational variety not only helps to diversify our economy, but also enhances the vibrancy of our community.”
National School Choice Week (NSCW) exists to highlight the critical need for variety in K-12 education. A program of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, NSCW has been observed annually since 2011.
“Virginia is committed to investing in innovative learning options, providing resources for parents to make the best choice to meet their child’s needs, and reducing barriers that prevent access to the courses, models, and learning environment they want to pursue,” Youngkin’s 2025 School Choice Week proclamation reads.
Virginia School Choice Week 2025 will conclude with a luncheon held in Arlington on the 1st, featuring remarks from WMAL talk radio host Vince Coglianese. To learn more, visit SchoolChoiceVA.com.
Last year, more than 70 gathered in Arlington to hear a variety of dynamic speakers on the transformative power of educational freedom. “This is the biggest civil rights issue of our day,” Derrick Max, president of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, said during the event.
READ GOVERNOR YOUNGKIN’S OFFICIAL PROCLAMATION:
By virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution of Virginia in the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is hereby officially recognized:
Virginia School Choice Week
WHEREAS, every child in Virginia should have access to a high-quality education; and
WHEREAS, Virginia recognizes the important role that a quality education plays in preparing all students in Virginia for success in life; and
WHEREAS, students have different needs and learning styles, and a one-size-fits-all delivery of education does not serve the myriad needs of all families; and
WHEREAS, Virginians should have options, including public, private, public charters, microschool, virtual, and homeschool to best educate their students; and
WHEREAS, quality education is critically important to the economic vitality of Virginia; and
WHEREAS, educational variety not only helps to diversify our economy, but also enhances the vibrancy of our community; and
WHEREAS, Virginia is committed to investing in innovative learning options, providing resources for parents to make the best choice to meet their child’s needs, and reducing barriers that prevent access to the courses, models, and learning environment they want to pursue; and
WHEREAS, Virginia is building partnerships across the Commonwealth with communities, businesses, schools, parents, and students that are committed to educational excellence; and
WHEREAS, Virginia is raising education standards to elevate students to high performance levels through Regional High Schools, Governors’ Schools, and College Preparatory Lab Schools which foster partnerships between our higher education institutions and Virginia’s most critical employers to ensure all students are prepared for high-demand jobs or college; and
WHEREAS, School Choice Week is celebrated across the country by millions of students, parents, educators, schools, policy makers, and organizations to raise awareness of the need for more educational options;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize January 26-February 1, 2025, as VIRGINIA SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK in our COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.
