Jan. 21-27 marked the observance of National School Choice Week across North America. In light of this observance, the Franklin County Schools and Russellville City Schools took a moment to highlight their programs and show why they are proud to offer Franklin County these public education opportunities.

“I am a strong believer in public education, and the Franklin County Schools system offers outstanding educational opportunities to its students through the hard work of the administrators, teachers and support personnel,” Franklin County Superintendent Greg Hamilton said.

FCS offers dual enrollment courses, career tech programs and fine arts classes. The career technical center offers eight programs: business marketing, drafting, building technology, cosmetology, health science, welding, industrial maintenance and collision repair.

Franklin County students also have the option to participate in dual enrollment classes in partnership with Northwest-Shoals Community College, the University of North Alabama and other colleges.

“I believe people should have a choice in what school they go to, but we try and provide the best opportunities and experiences so they want to go here,” Russellville City Schools Superintendent Heath Grimes said.

RCS also offers dual enrollment, career tech and fine arts for Russellville students. RCS has advanced placement classes and virtual class offerings, as well.

Recently RHS has received several recognitions, like being named the Niche No. 1 Standout School in Alabama, the 2017 CLAS School of Distinction and an A+ College Ready School of Excellence.

At its core, National School Choice Week is about promoting the different school options available for students and showing how they are all valuable, but Hamilton and Grimes both agree the State of Alabama has misused this campaign to misappropriate funds.

“They have made it more about school funding than school choice, and I don’t agree with that,” Grimes said.

Grimes explained a portion of the tax dollars that are supposed to go toward public education have been moved and used for private schools.

“I understand why they do it, but it’s taking away from us. If we were fully funded like we should be, we would be able to offer more to our students, like technology advancements,” Hamilton said.

Both school systems offer many programs and educational opportunities for their students and want everyone to know what those offerings are.