Michigan Parents & Students Rally for Public School Choice

The Michigan Chapter of the National Coalition of Public School Options, an organization of parents speak out about major public school issues to policymakers, rallied at the Capitol in support of parents’ rights to choose the best public school for their students and Senate Bill 619.
Currently in Michigan, cyber charter schools are only able to enroll up to 400 students as a state-wide provider. This means that providers are unable to serve more than 4,500 students looking to attend school online. SB619 would lift this barrier and allow a higher enrollment cap for cyber charter schools.
Today, Senator Phil Pavlov, Representative Paul Scott and Representative Tom McMillin spoke to the crowd about the importance of public school options for Michigan’s parents and students. Allowing more students in Michigan to attend the cyber charter schools will allow the state to better provide personalized and differentiated learning to students.
Senator Phil Pavlov said, “All children deserve a school that best meets their academic needs and enables students to work at their own pace. With their customized education programs, Michigan’s virtual charter schools provide a solid public school option for families. I am proud to support our virtual charter schools, and will work with my colleagues to remove the arbitrary enrollment cap currently in place in order to ensure this option is available to any Michigan student who wants it.”
During the rally, families met one-on-one with their Legislators to discuss reasons why charter schools meet the learning needs of students.
Heidi Kevelin, coalition leader and parent of cyber charter school students said, “We are thrilled our state provides families the opportunity to choose a public school that best suits our children’s individual needs.  What we now need is for our Legislature to come through and eliminate this senseless cap on the number of students cyber charter schools can enroll.”
For more information, visit www.publicschooloptions.org/michigan.