The 74’s Campbell Brown interviews Gov. Scott Walker at the Cleveland ‘Creating Hope and Opportunity’ reception

By Krista Carney
We know our nation’s education system is failing its students. Every 26 seconds a child drops out of school, and those who do stay enrolled are unprepared for the future. Our nation’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, scores are flatlining and recent results show nearly two-thirds of 8^th graders are not proficient in either math or reading. Of the students who do graduate from high school and go on to college, nearly 1 in 4 of them will require remedial classes their first year at a university or community college.
Every child in this country deserves access to a world-class education, and we need a solution to give children the opportunity to attend a great school and succeed well into the future.
School choice programs across the country have offered alternatives to children stuck in failing schools. The life-changing scholarships offered through these programs give students the chance to attend a school that suits their individual needs and interests immediately. During the 2015-16 school year, over 390,000 children took advantage of an educational choice program in their state. Not only are parents taking advantage of these programs, but they’re also extremely popular with 70% of likely voters expressing support for school choice.
That’s why school choice is coming to Cleveland this week in full force. Tonight in the midst of the 2016 Republican National Convention, the American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, will host a reception to highlight school choice and celebrate the victories of the movement.
The highlight of the evening will be a discussion between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and AFC board member/74 Editor-in-Chief Campbell Brown about the impact of school choice. Both are leaders in the educational choice movement, with Brown’s commitment to informing the public about education issues and Governor Walker’s passionate support of school choice in Wisconsin, where over 32,000 students enrolled in a school choice program this past school year alone.
Tune in to a livestream of tonight’s reception, Creating Hope and Opportunity, beginning at 5:30pm EST. AFC is also hosting a reception at the Democratic National Convention to raise awareness to the importance of school choice in all forms, including public school choice and quality charter schools. The reception will feature Lisa Leslie and Jalen Rose.