Arizona education leaders will gather for a luncheon with special guest Governor Doug Ducey on Thursday, January 26 at noon in the Capitol Rose Garden to celebrate National School Choice Week.

School leaders, parents, students, and teachers from Arizona’s highest performing low-income schools will celebrate Arizona’s best-in-class school choice environment and its contributions to better educational outcomes.

Governor Doug Ducey, former state superintendent of public instruction Lisa Graham Keegan, and a representative of the assembled schools will speak at the luncheon.

The goal of the celebration is to spotlight the difference school choice has made in the lives of so many families across the state, especially in typically underserved communities. The celebration is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week (January 22-28, 2017), which will feature more than 21,000 events across the country.

“The results of school choice in Arizona speak for themselves,” Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry President and CEO Glenn Hamer said. “No state in the union has more choice than Arizona. We are A Number 1, Top of the List, King of the Hill. Educational choice is a major factor in why we’ve made the most progress in academic gains on the nation's report card (NAEP) and one of the top states closing the achievement gap.”

Lisa Graham Keegan added, “There has never been a time like the current in Arizona, where we have hundreds of innovative school leaders pushing Arizona into the top tiers of academic achievement and most especially creating community schools that honor the talents and needs of students and their families. I am so proud of these school teams.”

Event organizers include A for Arizona, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Held every January, National School Choice Week is an independent public awareness effort designed to shine a positive spotlight on effective education options for every child. Through more than 21,000 independently planned events across the country, National School Choice Week raises public awareness of all types of educational choices available to children. These options include traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, online learning, private schools, and homeschooling.