Cross-Country, Whistle-Stop Train Tour for School Choice To Make Key Stops In Toledo, Cleveland

TOLEDO, Ohio --(Business Wire)--

Ohio's robust school choice options will be on center stage in late January as the National School Choice Week 'Special,' a cross-country, whistle-stop train tour supporting education reform, stops in Toledo and Cleveland.

Students, parents, teachers, elected officials and community leaders are preparing two special events - both on Thursday, Jan. 31 - to celebrate the train's arrival in the Buckeye State. In Toledo, 350 people will rally for school choice at a special event at the Valentine Theatre at 9 a.m., while in Cleveland later that day more than 100 participants will celebrate school choice at luncheon at the Great Lakes Science Center at 12:45 p.m.

"Leaders throughout Ohio tirelessly fight to expand educational options for families," said Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. "Our whistle-stops in the Buckeye State will spotlight the benefits of providing a true menu of educational options to families while underscoring the urgent need to ensure that no children in Ohio or across the country are trapped in schools that do not work for them."

Campanella will speak at both events along with Virginia Walden Ford, a school choice pioneer who was among the second wave of students to integrate Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, and who helped create the Washington, D.C. Opportunty Scholarship Program. The Toledo event will include special remarks from former Toledo Urban League President John Jones. Both events will feature student-led performances and remarks from parents and grandparents who benefit from school choice programs.

National School Choice Week is planning the events in cooperation with School Choice Ohio, Agudath Israel of America, the Black Alliance For Educational Options, the Northwest Ohio Scholarship Fund, Ohio Alliance For Public Charter Schools, Ohio Council of Community Schools and Ohio Virtual Academy.

This is the third annual National School Choice Week. Planned by a diverse, bipartisan coalition of citizens and organizations, National School Choice Week 2013, runs from Jan. 27 through Feb. 2 and will feature more than 3,500 events spanning all 50 states. The National School Choice Week 'Special' is scheduled to travel through the following cities, each of which will host whistle-stop-themed events with parents, students and dynamic speakers:

Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) (Friday, Jan. 25)
Albuquerque, NM (Saturday, Jan. 26)
Topeka, KS (Monday, Jan. 28)
Kansas City, MO (Monday, Jan. 28)
Chicago, IL (Tuesday, Jan. 29)
Milwaukee, WI (Wednesday, Jan. 30)
South Bend, IN (Wednesday, Jan. 30)
Toledo, OH (Thursday, Jan. 31)
Cleveland, OH (Thursday, Jan. 31)
Erie, PA (Thursday, Jan. 31)
Buffalo, NY (Friday, Feb. 1)
Rochester, NY (Friday, Feb. 1)
Albany, NY (Friday, Feb. 1)
New York, NY (Saturday, Feb. 2)

Track the tour's progress, and check out exclusive photos and videos, online at www.schoolchoiceweek.com/train. Follow the tour on Twitter (News - Alert) at @SCWSpecial, and Tweet about the tour with the hashtags #SCW and #whistlestop.

www.nationalschoolchoiceweek.com

@schoolchoiceweek

will@schoolchoiceweek.com