Alliance for School Choice

The Alliance for School Choice is an organization that promotes initiatives and reform efforts intended to give parents more influence over public education policies, especially those related to school selection and assignment. A nonprofit [Page 38]organization, the Alliance began in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2004. The Alliance arose from the merger of two other grassroots educational organizations—the American Education Reform Council (a pro-voucher organization with a lobbying segment known as the American Education Reform Foundation; the entire organization was headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and Children First America (another school choice and pro-voucher organization that attempted to get voucher legislation passed in Colorado and Michigan). Under the merged structure, the Alliance followed the example of the American Education Reform Council by operating two conjoined organizations that focus on the same issues from different perspectives. Serving as the primary organization, the Alliance for School Choice promotes public awareness of school choice and school vouchers and works to empower parents with information regarding their rights in selecting the schools that their children attend. Utilizing much of same staff, space, and infrastructure of the Alliance, the Advocates for School Choice supports the same ideas and initiatives favored by the Alliance. However, Advocates for School Choice focuses specifically on lobbying and policymaking in the hopes of getting federal and state legislation passed that increases the usage of school vouchers and the availability of school choice for families across the country.