EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The first quarter of 2026 has been a high-demand and high-impact period for Freedom to Choose Schools. Our #IChoose Video Challenge exceeded expectations, generating strong organic engagement with thousands of views, likes, and comments, and continuing to grow our community following. More importantly, the campaign demonstrated that authentic, school-led storytelling remains our most powerful strategy for building trust, expanding influence, and elevating the voices of educators and families. Congratulations to the winning school, Triumph Public High School of Texas.

On the policy front, we are advancing Senate Bill 475 in Georgia, a bipartisan effort focused on ensuring that public charter schools, particularly those operating in district-owned facilities, are more equitably considered in access to local capital funding mechanisms. For years, public charter schools have faced structural barriers in capital investment discussions, and this work reflects our continued commitment to correcting disparities and advocating for fair treatment within public education systems.

At the same time, we are preparing to launch a new cohort of the McLeod Society Fellowship and continue expanding our leadership, advocacy and amplification pipeline through our second season of podcasts- Choice Words. In addition, we are now posting regular blogs on our new Substack platform, providing another space to share research, policy perspectives, and stories from our community.

Governance remains a core strength of our organization. We are excited about welcoming another new board member who will officially join our team in April, bringing fresh perspective, experience, and leadership to our mission.

This quarter has required simultaneous advancement across storytelling, policy engagement, leadership development, and organizational growth. Encouragingly, these efforts are reinforcing one another, narrative momentum is strengthening policy influence, policy progress is building stakeholder confidence, and confidence is helping position our organization for greater impact on behalf of students, families, and communities.

Thank you for your continued guidance and belief in this work. The demands are high, but so is our commitment to ensuring that opportunity remains at the center of education for every child.

In Solidarity,

Jay Artis-Wright
Executive Director 
FCCS