The Ongoing Debate Over School Choice

With the first day of school still a clear memory and fall holidays right around the corner, the focus of many school districts is on a single obscure event that typically falls during the months of September or October. Count day is the one day of the school year that means everything to schools in terms of the amount of funding they receive. For every student that can be accounted for on this special day, funds are allotted for that school. During a time when school budgets are stretched well past their comfort levels, it is no wonder that count day is becoming bigger than any other day of the year for some school districts.

This video explains how student attendance affects school funding.

Why Count Day?

According to the Michigan state government website, count day is the day when all the public schools in the state total up all of the students attending their schools. The event also occurs in other states, like Colorado and Indiana. On this day, the number of students tallied adds up to direct funding for the school. For example, every student counted on count day in Colorado brings an additional $6,400 into the school in which he is enrolled, according to data in the Denver Post. In the Detroit Public School system, every student accounted for on count day means more than $7,000

High school athletics are an important part of many students’ lives, teaching them important life lessons such as hard work, perseverance and time management. In Hawaii, sports are an integral part of the high school culture, with a district that boasts more than 40 sanctioned sports and a number of championship seasons under their belts. Now the state will have one more sport to add to their repertoire – the state recently announced plans to make surfing a sanctioned sport in high schools across the islands.

According to a report at ESPN, the governor of the state, Neil Abercrombie, made the announcement in Waikiki, in the company of Lt. Governor Brian Shatz, Department of Education superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, and Board of Education member Keith Amemiya. Women’s world surf champion Carissa Moore was also in attendance at the announcement.

Origins of Surfing

Hawaii has traditionally been considered the birthplace of surfing since the royalty of the islands used to surf across the waves as an expression of courage and competition. Today, the sport has become big across the globe, and competition has brought surfing to a new level of performance and acceptance. People come from around the world to test out Hawaii’s surfing opportunities for themselves, whether for recreational or competitive purposes.

“Hawaii is the birthplace of surfing,” Governor Abercrombie told the crowd on Waikiki, and ABC News when the announcement was made. “From Duke Kahanamoku to the thousands of residents and visitors who surf both recreationally and

Healthy bodies are the first step to preparing young minds for the rigors of academic studies. Research has shown a straightforwardlink between students' physical health and their educational success. One program that has successfully merged the two is Fuel Up to Play 60, a nutrition and physical activity program designed for the classroom. This year marks the third anniversary of the successful program, and more schools than ever before are gearing up to motivate students to develop healthy lifestyle habits and take charge of their physical health.

What is Fuel Up to Play 60?

Fuel Up to Play 60 is a partnership program between the National Dairy Council and the National Football League. The program also receives significant support from the United States Department of Agriculture. The fundamentals of Fuel Up to Play 60 include teaching children how to make nutritious food choices and encouraging them to get a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity every single day. The program comes at a critical point, with obesity among children reaching nearly epidemic proportions currently. Today, children are facing many of the obesity-related health conditions that were once reserved for adults only, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and the early signs of cardiovascular disease.

"We need to provide today's youth with opportunities to make their own health decisions and access fun ways to live a healthy lifestyle," Jean Ragalie, RD, President of the National Dairy Council, stated in a press release on

Schools across the country continue to look for ways to do more with less. Rising costs, staffing challenges, technology needs, and budget constraints have pushed many educators to seek alternative funding sources beyond traditional public funding.

One example of a successful public-private partnership was Chevron's Fuel Your School program, which helped provide classroom resources to schools in California and Utah. Although the original Fuel Your School campaign is no longer active, it serves as an example of how corporate giving programs and community partnerships can support public education.

Today, similar initiatives continue to help teachers secure funding for classroom projects, technology, STEM programs, and other educational needs.

What Was Fuel Your School?

Fuel Your School was a partnership between Chevron and DonorsChoose, a nonprofit organization that helps teachers obtain funding for classroom projects.

The concept was simple. During designated promotional periods, purchases made at participating Chevron stations generated donations that supported classroom projects in eligible school districts. The program focused heavily on STEM education, though teachers could also request funding for a variety of other classroom needs.

During its early years, Fuel Your School generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for public school classrooms and helped fund thousands of teacher-led projects.

The program demonstrated how businesses, nonprofit organizations, educators, and local communities could work together to address classroom funding needs.

Why Alternative School Funding Matters

Public schools receive funding from federal, state, and local sources. However, many districts continue to face budget limitations that affect