California Association of Private School Organizations 

CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer 

December 7, 2011Volume 5, Number 6 
In This Issue

-- Education Poised for a Hit

-- Education Choice and Competition Index

-- Quick Takes

-- Teachers Matter!

-- Publication Note

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Education Poised for a Hit
CAPSO Logo GIFWith the enactment of the Budget Control Act of 2011 this past August, Congress tasked a "Supercommittee" consisting of six Democrats and six Republicans with the responsibility of proposing a plan that would reduce federal budget deficits by $2.1 trillion during the period 2012-2021.  The lawmakers had until Thanksgiving to surface such a plan.  Inability to reach agreement within the established "window" would trigger automatic caps on discretionary appropriations, with reductions in discretionary spending to be equally divided between defense, and non-defense budget lines.

 

Now that the last of our turkey sandwiches have been consumed, we all know that the "Supercommittee" failed to produce a plan, and that broad reductions in federal spending loom.  When will the cuts take place, and how will they affect federal education funding?

 

According to the Congressional Budget Offices, the automatic reductions would commence in fiscal year 2013.  In the arena of federal education spending, the CBO estimates reductions ranging from 7.8 percent in 2013, to 5.5 percent in 2021, resulting in total projected savings of $294 billion. 

In a letter to members of the "Supercommittee," dated October 25, 2011, the National Education Association warned that automatic spending cuts would result in a reduction of $3.54 billion in education funding, in 2013.  The education cuts would include the following reductions:

ESEA Title I: $1.1 billion
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): $896 million
Head Start:  $590 million

Additionally, the NEA letter warns of the loss of more than 70,000 education-related jobs, should the automatic cuts take effect.

 

Any potential reduction of federal funds will come as particularly unwelcome news for California.  Recently, the Golden State's nonpartisan fiscal analyst announced that California faces a budget deficit on the order of $13 billion over the course of the next 18 months.  In a manner similar to the federal picture, previously passed state legislation will trigger automatic budget cuts if the deficit projection proves accurate.  

 

According to this MercuryNews.com article, "If revenue falls short by more than $2 billion, the state would cut up to $1.5 billion in public school funding."  While the state's public schools struggle to avoid mid-year budget adjustments and accompanying reductions in personnel, the coming school year could well see both layoffs and widespread reductions in the number of annual days of instruction.

 

Approximately 10 percent of California's total spending on K-12 public education derives from federal sources.  Adding to the fiscal challenge to be faced in the coming year is the depletion of so-called "stimulus funds" provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and President Obama's inability to pass his "Job's Bill," which proposes additional federal funding intended to forestall educator layoffs.  Such "perfect storm" conditions will have all eyes focused on Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget for fiscal year 2012-13.  Within the past few days the Governor announced his intention to ask the people of the state to approve a five year fiscal package that includes a "...temporary tax increase on the wealthy, a modest and temporary increase in the sales tax, and guarantees that the new revenues be spent only on education."  Governor Brown revealed his proposals in an "Open Letter to the People of California," which can be found, here.

Stay tuned!
Education Choice and Competition Index 
CAPSO Logo GIFThe Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education Policy has developed an Education Choice and Competition Index which endeavors to rate large school districts using a set of related indicators, including one that takes account of access to "denominational schools and affordable private schools."  The Index is introduced in a brief video narrated by Grover J. "Russ" Whitehurst, former Director of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, and current director of the Brown Center. 

 

Noting that most school districts fail to provide parents with choice and competition among schools, Dr. Whitehurst observes that available choices must be meaningful:  "If you're going to exercise choice, you need choice among alternatives.  If a particular city has 1,000 restaurants, but they're all McDonalds, you don't have a lot of choice."

 

One can see how each of 25 large school districts fared on the Index, and view side-by-side data for up to three districts of one's choosing by using a simple interactive web application that can be accessed, here. (Los Angeles and San Diego are among the 25 districts examined.)  An 11-page report titled, "The Education Choice and Competition Index: Background and Results 2011," can be accessed, here.
 

Each school district was rated on each of 13 factors that included considerations such as accessible on-line information, relevant performance data, assignment mechanism, and availability of transportation.  An "Alternatively Available Schools" factor was calculated by dividing the number of students enrolled in alternative schools by the combined number of students enrolled in "traditional" public and alternative schools. "Alternative Schools," for purposes of the Index, consisted of charter schools, magnet schools, and "affordable" private schools that include voucher and tax credit scholarship recipients.

 

Of potentially greater interest than the actual rankings in the Index is the valence of the language contained in its accompanying report.  The Brookings Institution is hardly known as a conservative think tank like the Heritage Foundation, a Libertarian entity like the Cato Institute, or a primary champion of free-markets like the American Enterprise Institute.  Yet, the report accompanying the index contains pronouncements that are likely to resonate with each of the above-mentioned entities.  For example:

 

"In our framework, a primary driver of competition among schools is the loss or gain of funding that comes from changes in enrollment. A school that is unpopular with students and losing enrollment should lose funding. Likewise, a popular school should gain funding as it attracts more students. But in many school districts a school with declining enrollment may actually gain resources in the form of smaller class sizes and fewer administrative burdens whereas a popular school may be bursting at the seams and under-resourced. The competitive effects of school choice cannot be realized in a system in which schools that lose students win and schools that gain students lose. Yet, that is the situation in many school districts that nominally provide some degree of choice."

 

And this:

 

"While the availability of choice among traditional public schools within a school district can be a positive influence on competition in and of itself, school district bureaucracies often have, by intent, a homogenizing influence on schools within their purview. Curriculum, the teacher workforce, levels of parent involvement, length of school day and year, school autonomy, quality of facilities, and per pupil budgets are similar across regular public schools within most school districts. In contrast, alternative schools vary considerably on these dimensions. In economic theory, competition produces efficient markets. Competition on the features of schooling can only occur to the extent that there is both choice of schools and variation in features..."

 

Refreshing as that sounds, the reality is that while the Brookings Index provides relative comparisons, the overall availability of school choice remains limited.  As Andrew Rotherham notes in his Eduwonk blog, "...the index seems to reward places (relatively speaking) that have limited choices but still do all the things you should do (information, transportation etc...nonetheless).  That's like having an incredible restaurant with easy valet parking, wonderful fresh food, great service, and lovely ambiance - but that can only seat four people a night." 

Quick Takes 
Needs Assessment Deadline Extended

 

Each year, the California Private School Advisory Committee offers private school teachers and administrators a series of state-wide low-cost/high-quality professional development workshops.  The programs, which are underwritten by federal ESEA Title II, Part A statewide activity funds, have made it possible for hundreds of private school educators to to participate in intensive, multi-day programs conducted by master presenters, and to receive a robust array of accompanying materials.

 

To assure the relevance of the workshops, the law requires the conduct of periodic needs assessments designed to facilitate the collection of information from those on the "front lines."  If you are the principal/head of a private, nonprofit school offering instruction in any of grades K-12 (in the state of California) and have not yet completed the current needs assessment, you are strongly encouraged to do so prior to the extended deadline of December 16, 2011. 

 

Responses to the survey will guide the provision of statewide CPSAC professional development offerings for the next several years (subject to continuing federal funding).  Before proceeding to complete the online survey, please consult with your instructional staff to determine their professional learning priorities. In most cases, only one needs assessment should be submitted per school. Schools serving all grades from kindergarten through grade 12, may submit two needs assessments, one representing the needs of elementary staff and a second representing the needs of secondary staff. Likewise, multi campus systems may submit separate assessments representing individual campuses. 

 

The survey, which is user-friendly and should take approximately 15 minutes to complete, can be accessed by clicking here.

 

Carey on Ravitch

 

Education Sector's Kevin Carey provides a penetrating examination of Diane Ravitch in a recent article appearing in The New Republic.  

While Mr. Carey treats his subject with personal respect and occasional warmth, he delivers a number of decidedly cold barbs, including the observation that, "Ravitch's use of evidence to support her new positions is often dubious, selective, and inconsistent." 

 

After painting a verbal portrait of a thinker lacking for any well defined ideological moorings, he writes:

 

"The most consistent thing about Ravitch has been her desire to be heard. Her genius was in the construction of a public identity of partial affiliation - a university-based historian who never wrote an academic dissertation, a former government official whose career in public service lasted less than two years, an overseer of the national testing program with no particular expertise in testing, and a champion of public school teachers who has never taught in a public school. She enjoys the credibility of the sober analyst while employing all the tools of the polemicist."

 

Given Professor Ravitch's remarkable about-face with respect to her own education policy prescriptions, and her newfound prominence as a critic of popular reform efforts, the piece is well worth a read. 

  

Theodore J. Forstmann (1940-2011)

 

Children, parents, and schools lost a wonderful friend last month with the passing of Theodore Forstmann on November 20, 2011.  Together with John Walton, Mr. Forstmann co-founded the Children's Scholarship Fund, and continued to serve as the Fund's co-chairman until his death from brain cancer at the age of 71.

 

Words of tribute to Mr. Forstmann can be found on the CSF website, here.  He is quoted as having said, "Every child, regardless of their parents' income, should have access to a quality education - an education that will not only prepare them for successful private lives, but help them to build cohesive communities and a strong democracy. We believe if you give parents a choice, you will give their children a chance."  Since 1998, the Children's Scholarship Fund has helped nearly 123,000 children secure that chance.

 

This month's edition of the CAPE Outlook newsletter also contains words of praise for and remembrance of the late philanthropist.  CAPSO is deeply appreciative of Mr. Forstmann's generosity and leadership by example, and expresses its condolences to his family.

 

Teachers Matter!
CAPSO Logo GIFDuring my first year of graduate school I took a philosophy of education course titled "Logic and Language" in which we were required to read a particularly instructive book - Thomas F. Green's    The Activities of Teaching - and to write a paper addressing the question of whether the relationship between teaching and learning was necessary or contingent.  Both the book and the question remain entirely relevant.

 

I distinctly recall the professor who taught the course offering the observation that many of the activities that are commonly regarded as central to teaching - lecturing, demonstrating, comparing, contrasting, framing questions, etc. - can be performed in the absence of students. It was a deliberately provocative statement that succeeded, as intended, in sparking a spirited, if inconclusive discussion.

 

Thirty-six years later, the same set of questions and related issues continue to be brought into focus by education policy discussions relating to teacher evaluation and compensation.  On one side are those who claim that factors external to the classroom play a more important role in determining student achievement than the nature and quality of teaching.  These voices argue that unless and until an array of broader, underlying conditions such as poverty, health, nutrition, and familial support are effectively addressed, teaching cannot be expected to be transformational. On the other side are those who insist that teacher quality remains the single most important factor over which a reasonable degree of control can be exercised.

 

While elements of truth can likely be found in both views, the former posture can readily become self defeating.  For if the prevailing view should be that teaching is relatively ineffective, it will surely be asked why teachers are deserving of substantially greater compensation than babysitters.  Similarly, others are bound to inquire why significant investments in teacher training - both pre-service and in-service - are warranted, if those representing teachers continually argue that it is next to impossible to obtain valid and reliable measures of teacher effectiveness.  (This is not meant to imply that teacher evaluation isn't a complex undertaking subject to potential capriciousness and abuse, but that the absence of sophisticated evaluation systems invite understandably jaundiced views from an already skeptical public.)
 
I think it safe to say that CAPSO comes down firmly on the side that affirms the essential importance of teachers and teaching. Were it to be otherwise, we wouldn't have just completed our Twelfth Triennial Convention, an event predicated upon the belief that the linkage between teaching and learning can and should be tightly coupled.  We are delighted that close to 1,800 private school educators, the great majority of whom were teachers, participated in two days of professional development designed to engage, inform, challenge and inspire, all in the hope of improving professional practice for the ultimate benefit of students.
 
These are challenging times for schools (both public and private), and hard times can easily generate widespread feelings of bitterness, resentment, and despair.  Not so among those attending the Convention!  It was heartening to hear one presenter after another comment on the positive energy emanating from their audiences, and the enthusiasm displayed by attendees.  Obviously, no matter what the researchers and policy pundits have to say, our teachers know they make all the difference in the world. 
 
The fact that the rest of us can't say this often enough is no excuse not to say it again: Thank you, teachers!  Thank you for being there, day in and day out.  Thank you for putting the kids first, for walking the extra mile to help them learn and grow, and for modeling what we hope they might become.  Thank you for your patience, and your gentle but insistent prodding. Thank you for providing a kind word or a reassuring smile at just the right moment.  Thank you for everything you do.  We are all much the better for it.
 
Ron Reynolds
Publication Note
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The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published December 21, 2011.