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L.A. Catholic Schools Launch $100 Million Campaign
 The Los Angeles Catholic Education Foundation has announced a new initiative with the goal of raising $100 million for the purpose of making a Catholic school education accessible to families in need. The new campaign was announced by former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who serves as president of the foundation's Legacy Society. According to the foundation: "This initiative will insure CEF's goal to help economically disadvantaged students with a Catholic school education and provide them with the hope of becoming future civic leaders, valued employees, and community volunteers."
Mr. Riordan wrote of the new project in an article appearing in the Wall Street Journal titled, " Saving Catholic Education." Taking note of the stark decline in the number of Catholic schools, and accompanying enrollment, both nationally and locally, he writes: "In the early 1960s, the U.S. had over 13,000 Catholic schools with 5.5 million students. Today there are 6,900 schools with two million students. In the Los Angeles area, enrollment has fallen by 20% over the past 10 years, to 80,000 students from 100,000."
The former mayor goes on to note that the decline is not attributable to an accompanying decrease in demand, but to lack of affordability on the part of the urban poor. Last year, of the 17,500 applications for financial assistance received by the Catholic Education Foundation, 17,000 met the organization's qualification criteria, yet existing resources permitted the funding of only 8,400 students. (The average income for a family of four that made application for tuition assistance was $21,500.) If the current campaign succeeds in realizing $100 million, Mr. Riordan believes, "we will be able to offer scholarships to all deserving children for decades to come." The scholarships were described by the former mayor as the "best hope" for children relegated to inner city public schools where four-year high school graduation rates average approximately 30 percent. By contrast, 98 percent of students attending Catholic high schools graduate, with the vast majority of graduates enrolling in institutions of higher education.
The ambitious fundraising campaign follows on the heels of a landmark initiative to move the Los Angeles Archdiocesan schools to a 200-day school year. The trailblazing development was reported by the Midweek E-Mailer, here. |
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Arizona: New Program...New Lawsuit
 With a degree of constancy rivaling the rising and setting of the sun, the ebb and flow of tides, and the changing of seasons, a new school choice program has been signed into law in Arizona, and almost immediately subjected to a legal challenge. The new legislation, which was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer in time for the program to have gone into effect at the outset of the current school year, provides state-funded savings accounts for children with special needs. The program is being challenged by the Arizona Education Association, and Arizona School Boards Association, which claim the arrangement runs afoul of the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
Under terms of the program, state funding ranging from $3,000 to $25,000 per annum is placed in accounts, popularly known as "Empowerment Scholarship Accounts," (ESAs) with the funds to be used for various allowable purposes by the child's parents. The amount of funding is determined by the nature of the child's particular needs. According to the Institute for Justice (IJ), which has agreed to provide legal defense for the program: "The money can be spent to attend a private school, receive extra tutoring or therapies, or buy a curriculum if the child is homeschooled. The parent agrees not to enroll their child in a public school or charter school. If money is left over after the child graduates from high school, the money can be used for college tuition."
An interesting element of the program is that the money allocated to the ESAs represents 90 percent of the base amount that would follow a student enrolled in a traditional public school, or public charter school. Thus, the intent of the law is to effect net savings to the state, while shifting primary decision making power from public school districts to parents.
Said Arizona School Boards Association General Counsel Chris Thomas: "It's a voucher program that results in government money being used potentially for an unconstitutional program. Under our state Constitution, it's a pretty clear directive that no public money can go to religious instruction."
According to this Arizona Republic story, the new program was largely fashioned by the IJ, with assistance from the judge involved in the case that struck down a similar, prior program. According to Tim Keller, Executive Director of the IJ's Arizona Chapter, "The idea is to ensure that parents get their kids the best available education. There are no one-size-fits-all to education. Quite frankly, some needs just aren't met in public schools. This program gives them the alternatives."
According to the American Federation for Children (AFC), ESAs have been established to meet the special needs of 167 children during the current school year. The relatively small number of participants is largely explained by the late passage of the law, which saw it take effect July 20, with an August 1 deadline for receipt of applications for the current academic year. Commented House Majority Whip Debbie Lesko: "That was a very short window. That indicates the demand for ESAs from families whose children have special needs. Filing a lawsuit, after these students with special needs have been in school for almost two months, is terribly disruptive. Special needs children require stability - placing their education in limbo in mid-semester demonstrates a total lack of compassion."
The AFC has urged Arizona residents to contact their local public school boards and the Arizona Education Association "...to express their opposition to using teacher dues and school board money to fund legal action against children with special needs." Stay tuned! |
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Quick Takes
 Private School Students Outperform
A rigorous longitudinal study conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education found that ninth grade private school students outperformed public school counterparts in math and were more likely to take a more challenging array of courses. These, and other findings are reported in this month's edition of the CAPE Outlook newsletter, which can be accessed, here. This month's edition also reports on the private school provisions found in President Obama's jobs bill, and on private school students' performance on the most recently reported administration of the SAT: " Average national SAT scores were 497 in reading, 514 in math, and 489 in writing, while comparable scores for students in religious schools were 531, 533, and 528. Students in independent schools achieved average scores of 541, 579, and 550." The Outlook article provides additional information about SAT scores, the afore-mentioned study, comments about private schools offered by House Speaker John Boehner, and a national listing of private schools receiving this year's Blue Ribbon School designation.
The CAPE Outlook newsletter, a publication of the Council for American Private Education, appears monthly during the course of the school year. Readers can subscribe, at no cost, to receive the PDF edition via e-mail, or to receive low-cost hard copies of the publication, here.
From the USDE's Office of Non-Public Education
A. IDEA Technical Assistance Webpate and Webinar
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE) and Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) are pleased to announce a new technical assistance webpage devoted to issues related to children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools. The page is part of a broader effort of the Department to provide technical assistance on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The first resources to be housed on the page are the Power Point presentation used to discuss the April 2011 Qs and As on Serving Children With Disabilities Enrolled By Their Parents in Private Schools, and the corresponding webinar that was conducted on September 8, 2011.
B. NASA K-12 Educator Fellowships
Private school teachers are eligible to apply for the NASA Endeavor Science Teaching Certificate Project, which awards one-year fellowships to over 40 current and prospective educators each year. The project is administered by U.S. Satellite Laboratory Inc. Funding authorization for the project is provided through the NASA Endeavor Teacher Fellowship Trust Fund as a tribute to the dedicated crew of the space shuttle Challenger.
In partnership with State departments of education, Endeavor Fellows take five graduate courses in an innovative, online format from the comfort of their homes or schools. In these courses, participants gain science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professional development. They learn to apply research-based pedagogical strategies and cutting-edge STEM content to their classroom contexts while becoming part of a network of like-minded educators across the nation.
Endeavor Fellows earn and are awarded a NASA Endeavor Certificate in STEM Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Fellows' Leadership Distinction activities will promote learning outside the classroom walls in the fellows' states or districts. Fifteen graduate credits are awarded from regionally accredited higher education partners.
Applications for Cohort 4 will be accepted through October 31, 2011. For more information, visit the Endeavor Program's Website. Questions about this opportunity should be directed to
nasa_endeavor@us-satellite.net
A Global Report Card?
Are you curious to see how your local public school district's test scores stack up on a state-wide, nation-wide, or international basis? If so, researchers Josh McGee and Jay Greene of the Geoge W. Bush Presidential Center have created a new website called "The Global Report Card," that will, gladly, indulge your desire. A quick search returned results claiming that students in the Los Angeles Unified School System would outperform only 20 percent of students from a set of 25 developed nations in math, and would outperform a mere 25 percent in reading. The Elk Grove Unified School District's students do better, outperforming 34 percent of the international sample in math, and 42 percent in reading. (A caveat: comparative international data should always be interpreted with caution.)
The site announces that its mission is "...to share the facts about the educational performance of U.S. students against their international peers and competitors to promote education reform and promote our nation's ability to compete on a global playing field." Visit it yourself, and conduct a search. Be forewarned, however, that the international comparisons are certain to invite methodological criticism.
Want Professional Development? Look Here...
The California School Community Access Network (CSCAN) offers a free informational list serve and monthly newsletter that focuses on student support professional development conferences, webinars, college and career infomation, and other events and resources. It is moderated by Bob Tyra, retired project director from the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and now a contract consultant for the California Department of Education, and adjunct faculty staff member at California State University Long Beach. If you wish to join, please email Bob at btra2.0@gmail.com
While serving with distinction in his leadership position at LACOE, Bob was always a great friend of California's private school community, and remains so. (The upcoming CAPSO Convention is mentioned in this month's newsletter.) Join his list-serve by e-mailing Bob at the address listed above, and benefit from his stellar work.
Possible Extension on Expenditure of ARRA Funds
From CAPE
Funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) should have been spent by September 30, 2011, but it may be that certain funds, including those for services to students in religious and independent schools, were not spent in time. This memo from USDE to chief state school officers outlines the procedures they can use to request a waiver from the expenditure deadline. If you know of funds earmarked for private school students under ARRA that have not been spent in particular districts, you may want to contact your state education department to ensure that those funds are included in any waiver request, which must be submitted by October 31.
Our thanks to Michelle Doyle for bringing this to our attention.
CAPE provides a background piece on ARRA, here. |
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Grand Theft Education
 A couple of weekends ago, while perusing the op-ed section of Saturday's Wall Street Journal, I came upon one of the most poignant pronouncements I have ever read. It appeared in the middle of an article by Micheal Flaherty titled, " The Latest Crime Wave: Sending Your Child to a Better School." Here's the sentence that knocked my socks off: "Only in a world where irony is dead could people not marvel at concerned parents being prosecuted for stealing a free public education for their children."
By way of background, Mr. Flaherty, who is president and cofounder of Walden Media, the company that coproduced " Waiting for Superman," kicked off his article by recounting the unfortunate saga of Kelley Williams-Bolar, a resident of Ohio who was sentenced to 10 days in jail, three years of probation, and 80 hours of community service for having falsified residential information in an effort to place her children in better performing nearby public schools. The Midweek E-Mailer reported the story, here. (Last month, the governor of Ohio granted Ms. Williams-Bolar clemency.)
Mr. Flaherty reports that within the past year, parents in Connecticut, Kentucky, and Missouri have all been arrested, and currently await sentencing for enrolling their children in more desirable public schools situated outside their respective districts of residence. The phenomenon is, undoubtedly, considerably more pervasive, and, in light of such widespread civil disobedience, public school districts throughout the nation are both taking note, and taking action. Mr. Flaherty writes: "From California to Massachusetts, districts are hiring special investigators to follow children from school to their homes to determine their true residences and decide if they 'belong' at high-achieving public schools." Districts located in Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey have launced new address verification programs, while others have turned to services such as VerifyResidence.com that provide "the latest in covert video technology and digital photographic equipment to photograph, videotape, and document students making their way home after school."
One can almost imagine a new spate of tv shows - reality and otherwise - capitalizing on the new crime wave: Cheaters: School Edition. EduCops. CSI: Little Red School House. Law and Order - Special Education Unit. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) Of course, this is hardly a laughing matter. In fact, it's downright depressing to consider that, in light of the constant hue and cry over the lack of resources, scarce public funds are now being allocated to apprehend and prosecute parents who want nothing more than a better future for their children. Lump those dollars together with the money that's being spent to put a stop to school voucher and education tax credit programs designed to strengthen the ability of parents to choose the school they deem most appropriate for their children, and the picture becomes bleaker, yet.
While the media is busy covering thousands of anti-Wall Street protesters who appear largely incapable of articulating any clear goal, countless numbers of exasperated parents who know exactly what they want could benefit from additional media attention. Perhaps it will take a massive wave of arrests to convince both the media and our lawmakers that access to a school of choice has become a civil rights issue in the eyes of frustrated parents across the nation. Absent choice, parents like Kelley Williams-Bolar will continue to engage in behavior that sounds oxymoronic, but isn't. That is to say, they will persist in trying to "steal" something that's supposedly "free." To ignore the irony is almost criminal.
Ron Reynolds |
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Publication Note
The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published October 26, 2011. |
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