California has a new/old governor, as Jerry Brown was sworn in to serve a third term of office, January 3.  At age 72, Mr. Brown becomes California's oldest serving governor.  His previous two terms of office extended from 1975 to 1983.  Unlike his prior incumbency, he now finds himself governing a state facing unprecedented economic challenges that include projected current and coming fiscal year budget deficits on the combined order of $26 billion, double-digit unemployment, massively underfunded public employee pension obligations, and an exodus of revenue-generating businesses from the state.

In a somber inaugural address, Governor Brown groomed legislators and constituents for hard decisions ahead, including possible tax hikes and deep cuts to existing government programs.  Democrats and Ruplicans alike were faulted for their inability to rise above partisanship in order to address the crisis:  "Yet, in the face of huge budget deficits year after year and the worst credit rating among the 50 states, our two political parties can't come close to agreeing on the right path forward. They remain in their respective comfort zones, rehearsing and rehashing old political positions."
 
Recalling a series of promises made during the course of his campaign, Mr. Brown declared that his term of office would be guided by three principles:  "First, speak the truth. No more smoke and mirrors on the budget. No empty promises. Second, no new taxes unless the people vote for them.  Third, return-as much as possible-decisions and authority to cities, counties and schools, closer to the people."
 
Remaining true to such promises may prove a daunting task.  With the passage of Proposition 25 in last November's election, Democratic members of the legislature will be able to pass a budget without offering compromises to Republicans.  The veto of a budget bill by a Democratic governor would, undoubtedly, ruffle a good many political feathers.  But, as Mr. Brown remarked in his inaugural speech, "At this stage of my life, I have not come here to embrace delay or denial."
 
Similarly, the imposition of new taxes may prove to be a tough sell.  It is likely that Mr. Brown will seek a special election this spring in an effort to extend the "temporary" increases in state taxes and vehicle registration fees that are set to expire this summer.  Should the people say "no," to such a proposal, the new governor may find himself painted into a corner.
 
As for the new/old Governor's commitment to returning programs and services currently provided by the state back to local control, the nature of such functions remains unclear, as does the more significant question of how any such programs are services are to be funded.  Mr. Brown has signaled a desire to revisit elements of Proposition 13 (though he has indicated he would leave the cap on residential property taxes intact), but the manner in which he hopes to refashion the balance between state and local government remains to be seen.
 
Mr. Brown's inaugural remarks favorably impressed veteran political 
commentator Dan Walters, who wrote:  "Brown's bluntly worded address, and the bare-bones inaugural ceremony itself, hit just the right notes of serious purpose for a state mired in the deepest recession since the Great Depression and an electorate that holds its political officeholders in deep - and much justified - disdain."
 

Much like the quest for the fountain of youth and the holy grail, the search for an alternative to the term "private school" has long proven to be a source of fascination...and frustration to those in our field.  While our schools are, decidedly, private, the term masks a number of important truths, not the least of which is that private schools serve a public interest.  Though the term can connote an exaggerated sense of exclusivity, it is generally true that private schools bend over backwards to broaden accessibility.

In recent years, "privatization" has come to acquire an increasingly pejorative valence in the parlance of contemporary edu-speak.  The term is now used to describe any number of alternative arrangements that are regarded as threats to the institution of the "traditional" public school by members of the public education establishment.  This is true even when the alternative arrangement in question entails other public schools, such as charter schools administered by private management firms.

In the current edition of the CAPE Outlook newsletter, Council for American Private Education Executive Director Joe McTighe has provided a nifty bit of off-the-cuff research that sheds light on the incidence of use of the expression "private school," and several closely related terms.  To generate data for his investigation, Mr. McTighe turned to Google's recently-released Ngram Viewer.  In short, the Ngram Viewer is a program that identifies the occurence of a word, or term, in a large corpus of books over the course of a designated period of time.

Mr. McTighe found that the term "private school" began appearing in books published in the United States in the mid-18th century.  The term "independent school" made its debut at the outset of the 19th century, and the designation, "nonpublic school," arrived on the scene some 90 years later, "...with one early reference surfacing in the 1892 publication The History of Education in Indiana."  In the year 2000, Mr. McTighe found that the term "private school" appeared "...about 25 times more frequently than the term 'nonpublic school' and about 12 times more frequently than 'independent school'."

 
You can find the article, along with the entirety of the January, 2011 edition of the CAPE Outlook newsletter, here.  Feel free to forward the following link to colleagues who may wish to read the informative periodical, which is published monthly during the course of the school year:

http://www.capenet.org/pdf/Outlook361.pdf

Readers can also sign up to receive free PDF versions of CAPE Outlook, or purchase low-cost subscriptions to the hard copy version, here.

Torlakson Declares Financial Emergency

Three days after being sworn in as California's new State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson declared a state of financial emergency in California's schools.  The declaration, while purely symbolic, points to difficult times ahead for the state's public schools.  "There's simply no other way to describe it: this is an emergency," Torlakson said. "Every day, teachers, school employees, and principals are performing miracles, but the $18 billion in cuts over the last three years are taking their toll. We have 174 districts teetering on the financial brink. If this isn't an emergency, I don't know what is."  A news release issued by the California Department of Education can be found, here.

Meanwhile, EdSource has issued a new publication titled "School Finance Highlights: 2010-11," that unpacks the fiscal morass in which California's public education system is currently mired.  The 7-page report can be downloaded in PDF format, here.

E-Rate Application Deadline Extended

Recent rulings have extended the deadline for the filing of initial forms that can lead to a reduction of most private schools' telephone and internet connectivity charges by a factor of 20-90 percent.  The E-Rate program, established by the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, subsidizes the cost of connecting schools and libraries to the "information superhighway."  The program is funded through a "Universal Service Fund" tariff on telephone bills.

Participation in the program makes private school eligible for discounts on their telephone and internet connectivity charges, with the amount of the discount determined by the incidence of poverty in the student population.  Even schools with zero incidence of poverty qualify for discounts of 20 percent.  A one percent incidence of poverty boosts the discount level to 40 percent.  The incidence of poverty is determined by the number of students who qualify for participation in the National School Lunch Program.  (Students need not actually participate; they must simply meet the eligibility requirement.)

California private schools can augment their savings by combining E-Rate discounts with additional subsidies provided by the California Teleconnect Fund.

You can learn more about E-Rate discounts from the Universal Service Administrative Company (the entity that administers the program), here, or from E-Rate Central, here.  You may also contact Robert Teegarden of the E-Rate Program (a private company working with private schools) for additional information.

What does it mean to decline FAPE?  Are private school teachers permitted to participate in BTSA programs?  Has your LEA invited you to participate in timely and meaningful NCLB consultation?  Will your school take part in this year's NAEP?  You've probably seen each of these acronyms before...but do you know what they mean? 

Now, courtesy of the California Department of Education, you can decode more than 70 education related acronyms.  Just click here to obtain the list.  (Note that the CTA, NEA, and UTLA all appear on the list.  Perhaps CAPE and CAPSO will some day be deemed worthy of inclusion.)


Young Scholars Program

The date was January 3, 2011.  It was the first day of the first work week of the new calendar year.  Only twelve days earlier, the 111th Congress had adjourned.  In two days time, a new Congress featuring a Republican dominated House of Representatives and a Democrat controled Senate would be sworn in.  The snow storm that had made holiday travel such a headache for so many was a thing of the past. Christmas and New Year's had come and gone.  The final sales tallies from "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" had been registered.  The NFL playoff schedule was set. And as the nation's citizens made their way back to work following a long, holiday weekend, a carefully written op ed piece penned by a member of President Obama's cabinet appeared in the Washington Post.
 
The cabinet member was Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and the name of the article was "School reform: a chance for bipartisan governing."  While much of the mainstream media was portraying the incoming Republican congressional delegation in an openly bombastic light (heralding an immediate House challenge to Obamacare) Mr. Duncan's op ed reflected a far subtler, if more effective message.  And make no mistake.  This wasn't simply the Secretary of Education writing about education policy.  Mr. Duncan's article served as a proxy for President Obama's message to the American People on the eve of the installation of the new Congress with which he must deal: Everyone - Republicans and Democrats, alike - agrees that the No Child Left Behind Act needs fixing.  And most everyone agrees about the parts that are in greatest need of repair. So, if we can't all get along when it comes to working on this law, don't blame me should the new Congress prove to be dysfunctional.