BATON ROUGE, La. – On Wednesday, students and parents from across Louisiana will hold a rally for virtual education at the state capitol in Baton Rouge. The event, hosted by the Louisiana chapter of PublicSchoolOptions.org (PSO), will bring together families that benefit from school choice, specifically public virtual schools. The rally will be an opportunity for attendees to meet with legislators to share their personal stories about why school choice is important to their families and learn about pending legislation that could affect the future of the state’s virtual schools.Senate Bill 149 threatens to cut funding for the state’s virtual schools by 50% even though they are public schools and should be funded at the same levels as traditional brick and mortar schools. House Bill 879 threatens to close schools like Louisiana Virtual Academy and Louisiana Connections Academy, affecting thousands of students and families, and House Bill 652 also puts funding of these public schools at risk.PSO is awaiting a decision from the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana in the case of Iberville Parish School Board, et al v. Louisiana State Elementary and Secondary Education Board, et al. Louisiana parents Christin White-Kaiser and Jennette Franklin, along with PSO, filed an amicus brief with the court in February, providing a voice for parents of children who could lose their school choice option and asserts the constitutional guarantees and rights of students attending public charter schools. Franklin and Kaiser have children who attend Louisiana charter schools, some of whom are directly threatened by the frivolous lawsuit brought by the Louisiana teachers union and Iberville Parish School Board. The amicus can be found HERE.Who: School choice advocates, parents, students, teachers What: PublicSchoolOptions.org Louisiana Capitol Day 2016 When: Wednesday, April 6 9:30a.m. Families meet with legislators State Capitol 900 N 3rd Street Baton Rouge, Louisiana 11:00a.m. Families participate in Capitol Day program Hilton Capitol Center 201 Lafayette Street Baton Rouge, LouisianaThe event is open to the press.PublicSchoolOptions.org is a national alliance of parents that supports and defends parents’ rights to access the best public school options for their children. The Coalition supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies and other innovative education programs. Additionally, we advocate for equal access without restrictions to these public schools for all children.

###