Competition and choice raise our standard of living. Consumers demand better goods and services at lower prices and the market delivers. Cars, computers and TVs get better each year as designers and manufacturers work to woo customers. Cellphones do everything but dishes in the sink, and that's only a matter of time.

Monopolies, by contrast, protect poor and outdated services and goods. The old one-size-fits-all public school worked for some students and failed others who needed nontraditional approaches to education.

Just as competition and choice took us from rotary dial to the iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy S4, new competition in education has educators finding new and innovative ways to maximize a child's ability to learn. Right here in Colorado Springs, we have private and public schools that specialize in science, literature, math, music and other forms of the arts. We have a school that paves the way for high school students to get most of the way through college by the time they are adults. We have schools that favor the gifted and schools adept at reversing learning disabilities. We've seen a proliferation of successful home schools and online schools.

"Over nine years, I have seen my son learn in an environment that allows him to work at his own pace within a challenging curriculum," explains Tillie Elvrum, vice president of the Colorado Coalition of Cyberschool Families. "His studies are guided by licensed teachers, and the flexibility of the online model has allowed him to perform his studies from Washington state to Washington, D.C. The bottom line is school choice allows him to learn and be successful in the setting that fits him best."

With Colorado as an early leader in the school choice movement, laws that facilitate and encourage the educational renaissance are catching on throughout the country. As proponents of the movement celebrate National School Choice Week, which runs through Saturday, parents, students and teachers will participate in more than 5,500 events throughout the country that showcase the merits of free-market education systems.

"If you are a teacher that has ever wondered what it is like to teach in a choice environment or you are a parent thinking about enrolling your kids in a charter or other choice school, these events are a great opportunity to learn more about school choice," wrote Teresa Brown, a teacher at the Academy for Advanced and Creative Learning in the Springs.

Among events designed to educate the public about school choice is a panel discussion from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Colorado Christian University, 1125 Kelly Johnson Blvd., in Room 115.

The event is sponsored by the Professional Association of Colorado Educators, a nonunion professional organization of teachers and administrators.

"By shining a spotlight on options for teachers including, charter, virtual, and parochial schools, we've been able to inform the public and engage teachers in a discussion about the benefits of school choice for not only students, but classroom educators," wrote Gary Beckner, executive director of the Association of American Educators, a partner with PACE.

The traditional public school still works for a lot of students, but not for all. A society that allows parents and educators to craft customized learning environments enjoys the emergence of school choices that provide for almost everyone. By observing National School Choice Week, we celebrate educational advancements that put children first.

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE