All students – regardless of ability level – deserve to have their learning be supported and their needs be met. More than anything, I want to see all students succeed and I am proud to work for a private institution that supports public education.

Matthew Ladner is one of the biggest school choice advocates in Arizona and he thinks the debate on the topic is not a productive one.

In 1994 (when AZ passed open enrollment and charter school laws) 59% percent of Arizona public schools had 70% of their student body from a single race or ethnicity. During the 2017-18 school year (the most recent available) that statewide percentage had dropped to 41%. Arizona students are less rather than more racially isolated in their schools today than in 1994.

It is a shame that in the name of “school choice” public schools in Arizona have reversed decades worth of equality. For a state that has over a $1 billion in our rainy day fund and over $700 million in excess revenues, additional funding for schools based on poverty and special education, just like results-based funding, is critical. This additional funding will not reverse the troubling trend of segregation in our schools; however, it will provide hope and help to traditional public schools affected by this unfortunate trend.

This week I am especially grateful for Arizona’s micro schools. As students, parents, and educators will gather at more than 50,000 events and activities around the nation, let’s use National School Choice Week to continue to innovate so that all children can find schools where they succeed.

By opening up the education marketplace and relying less on government provision of education, Arizona is leading the way in creating more and better education opportunities for young people through entrepreneurship and innovation.

My son Drew was just two years old when his doctors diagnosed him with a very rare form of cardiomyopathy. He was in desperate need of a heart transplant. You can imagine how scared we were, but we were fortunate to find a perfect matching heart for Drew. Eight years later, in spite of a few setbacks, he is doing incredibly well.

An error by Mesa Public Schools could lead to 27 homeschooled students losing access to the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program they were mistakenly granted.

The political fight over School Choice - Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts seem to never end. The latest battle continues over a small group of Navajo children, who needed the Education Savings Accounts to attend a school in New Mexico just over the Arizona state line.

Today’s kids, educated in different kinds of schools — with or without uniforms, religion, second languages, music, or whatever else — will bring to tomorrow’s positions of leadership not monotony or sameness but a deeply diverse and crucially varied set of experiences. What better way to promote that diversity than to celebrate National School Choice Week — and the diversity of education it inspires?