Jersey Proud Education Reform Tour: Generation Opportunity Meets with Reform Leaders, Visits Charter Schools Offering Parents Options

Group Announces Jersey Proud – Facebook Page With 65,000 Fans

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Generation Opportunity has wrapped up the first part of it's "Jersey Proud Education Reform Tour." The tour included meetings with New Jersey young adults, college students, parents of school age children, and leading Garden State education reform advocates as well as site visits to charter and other schools.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110805/DC48058LOGO)

Generation Opportunity also announced the unveiling of a new social media platform, the Facebook page "Jersey Proud," which already has 65,000 fans in the Garden State. The page serves as a forum on issues of importance in the everyday lives of young adults in New Jersey including youth unemployment and efforts to create more educational choice for the parents of children in communities like Newark through increased charter schools and expanded school choice.

"Substantive education reform, including the expansion of charter schools and access to greater educational choices for parents and their children, is a top concern among New Jersey's young adults," said Paul T. Conway, president of Generation Opportunity and former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Labor. "New Jersey Millennials fully understand the link between education reform, access to high quality education, and American competitiveness. They are committed to eliminating barriers that lock students into poor performing schools in communities like Newark and are interested in working for changes that help parents choose the best education for their kids."

During their discussions and site visits, leaders from the education, civic, and faith communities offered perspectives on the state of education in New Jersey as well as the positive results made possible by the expansion of charter schools and access to more educational choices for parents. Generation Opportunity visited several leading Newark charter schools including SPARK Academy Elementary School and the Marion P. Thomas Charter School. In addition to charter schools, Generation Opportunity visited Our Lady of Guadalupe Academy in Elizabeth.

As a part of the "Jersey Proud Education Reform Tour," Generation Opportunity also conducted a series of campus organizing visits among college students at Drew University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the College of Saint Elizabeth. 

Earlier this year, the Generation Opportunity grassroots field team spent time on other New Jersey campuses including Rutgers University and Kean University. The team also had the opportunity to train community college leaders from Bergen Community College and Passaic County Community College who attended the annual American Student Government Association national conference.

In addition to campus organizing, the Generation Opportunity field team has met with young adults and young professionals in many other New Jersey communities including News Brunswick, Newark, Hoboken, Morristown, and Union to obtain their opinions on top national issues. 

Visit "Jersey Proud" on Facebook by searching for the page on Facebook or simply by using this link: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreJerseyProud

ABOUT GENERATION OPPORTUNITY

Generation Opportunity is a non-profit, non-partisan 501 (c)(4) organization that seeks to engage everyone from young adults, to early career professionals, college students, young mothers and fathers, construction workers, current service men and women, veterans, entrepreneurs and all Americans who find themselves dissatisfied with the status quo and willing to create a better tomorrow.

Generation Opportunity operates on a strategy that combines advanced social media tactics with proven field tactics to reach Americans 18-29. The organization's social media platforms – "Being American" on Facebook and "The Constitution" on Facebook – have amassed a total fan base of more than 1.8 million. Both pages post links to relevant articles and reports from sources ranging from the federal General Accountability Office (GAO), to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Brookings Institution, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Heritage Foundation.

Read about Generation Opportunity here; visit "Being American" on Facebook here, and "The Constitution" on Facebook here.

For our Spanish-language page – Generacion Oportunidad – click here.

CONTACT: 
Matthew Faraci   
202-997-1636
EMAIL

SOURCE Generation Opportunity