California Association of Private School Organizations 

CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer 

January 11, 2012Volume 5, Number 8 
In This Issue

-- Governor's Proposed Budget Raises Concerns

-- CPSAC Writing Workshop in Central Valley

-- Quick Takes

-- My Day in Court

-- Publication Note

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Governor's Proposed Budget Raises Concerns
CAPSO Logo GIFAs it happened, an administrative glitch resulted in the premature release of Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.  A video of a hastily-arranged press conference in which Mr. Brown presented his fiscal plan can be viewed, here.  Summary information for the budget's various sections can be found, here.

 

In the message accompany release of his proposed budget, the Governor attempted to put an optimistic face to a daunting set of fiscal challenges, noting that the current budget "...did, however, lay the foundation for fiscal stability. It cut the annual budget shortfall by three-quarters - from $20 billion to $5 billion or less. It shrunk state government, reduced our borrowing costs and gave local governments more authority to make decisions."  At the same time, Mr. Brown issued a warning: "The stark truth is that without some new taxes, damaging cuts to schools, universities, public safety and our courts will only increase."
 
The Governor's fiscal plan for 2012-13 banks on the passage of revenue-boosting measures by California voters this November.  The measures include a temporary increase in state income tax rates applicable to high-income taxpayers, and a "modest and temporary" increase in the state sales tax.  The new revenues are to be spent solely on education.
 
Even if the Governor's tax package is adopted, his proposed budget calls for additional deep cuts to state health, human services and education programs, including a reduction of nearly $1 billion to state welfare spending, and an $842 million reduction to Medi-Cal funding.  Proposed cuts to education, include the termination of the state's K-3 class-size reduction program, and postponement of phase-in plans for the establishment of a transitional kindergarten year, programs championed by the teachers unions.  EdSource reports on these proposals, here.
 
Higher education also faces additional funding reductions.  On the heels of a $1.3 billion cut enacted in July, both the University of California and the Cal State University systems face further cuts of $100 million each in the Governor's proposed budget for FY 2012-13.  Community Colleges are slated to receive $30 million less than at present.
 
Public K-12 education finds itself in a particularly vulnerable position.  Because current budget revenues are running somewhat higher than expected, the spending reduction "triggers" (enacted as part of the deal between the governor and the Legislature that helped to brake the deadlock over the adoption of the current year's budget) have not been fully implemented.  Had all the triggers gone into effect, the current public school year might well have been reduced by as much as seven fewer days of instruction.  If the Governor's tax package should be rejected, however, reductions on the order of three weeks are being forecast.
 
While such pronouncements are likely intended as scare tactics - total new revenue projected to accrue from approval of the Governor's tax package amounts to the sum spent on public education over a period of three weeks - it is certain that the teachers unions will mount a "full court press" in support of Mr. Brown's proposals.  Yet, even if voters should approve the Governor's tax hikes, there's a problem.  The nonpartisan State Legislative Analyst now says that new revenue generated by the package would fall $2.1 billion short of the figure used by the Governor to produce a balanced budget.  The Governor and the Legislative Analyst are also at odds over where the bulk of the new revenue will be coming from.  According to the Governor, the increased tax rate upon the wealthy will account for the lion's share, whereas the Legislative Analyst predicts that slightly more money will be produced by the increase in the state sales tax.
 
Stay Tuned!
CPSAC Writing Workshop in Central Valley
CAPSO Logo GIF 

The California Private School Advisory Committee is pleased to present a new, three-day workshop for nonprofit, private school middle and high school teachers of all academic subjects (grades 6-12).  The workshop, which is subvented in part by ESEA, Title II, Part A funding, will be offered in Bakersfield.

  

Harness the Power of Nonfiction Writing

in Every Classroom

  

Presented by:

Angela Peery, Ed.D.

 

Download a Registration Form

 

Dates and Location

 

March 28-29 and May 2, 2012

 

Stockdale Christian School

4901 California Ave.

Bakersfield, CA  93309-1111

 

Per-Person Registration:  $75.00  (Please register by March 14, 2012.)  Registration fee includes workshop materials, continental breakfast, and lunch, each day of the program.

  

Program Hours:  8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., each of the three days.

                          

Space is limited.  Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis! 

 

About the Workshop

 

It's never too late to get students writing! Ample evidence supports the need for students to write more and to write better in all of their classes. Not only does writing help to improve learning, but it also correlates to higher standardized test scores in all subject areas.

 

According to Dr. Douglas Reeves: No matter how the writing variable has been measured, the results are the same: as emphasis on classroom nonfiction writing grows, student achievement improves. We have evidence not only of reading and writing score improvement but of scores in math, science, and social studies improving as well.

 

When students of all ages write in the content areas, the writing has two powerful effects. In the mind of the student, writing produces a cognitive effect, allowing the student to reflect on his learning and deepen understanding of the subject at hand. For the teacher, writing provides important formative assessment information and thus leads to improved instruction.

 

Participants in this workshop will review compelling information about how increased writing is correlated with academic success. They will learn and apply several writing-to-learn strategies that can be employed immediately, and plan to implement both writing-to-learn and product writing in their classrooms. The content of the workshop will be tailored to the needs of secondary teachers of all subject matter classes and will include information on both instruction and assessment.

 

Participants will:

  • Receive an interactive training manual and Dr. Peery's book, Writing Matters in Every Classroom;
  • Review the compelling research about nonfiction writing and its correlation to academic success;
  • Learn and apply approximately 10 writing strategies that can be used immediately in all secondary classrooms;
  • Discuss various written products that have high applicability to all secondary classrooms;
  • Write an action plan for using writing strategies in their classrooms;
  • Explore the power of common rubrics/scoring tools; and,
  • Draft common rubrics/scoring tools.

 

About the Presenter

 

Angela Peery, Ed. D., is a Senior Professional Development Associate at The Leadership and Learning Center. Just before joining the Center, she worked for the South Carolina Department of Education as an instructional coach at a low-achieving middle school and helped raise student proficiency in writing. She was also a literacy consultant for the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, working with teachers in high-poverty schools in Seattle and Indianapolis. Her dissertation detailed her work with a Jewish day school to improve literacy instruction.

 

Angela has a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. Her varied experience includes secondary teaching and administration, and various curriculum leadership roles at the building, district, and state levels. She has taught graduate education courses and was a co-director of a National Writing Project site. She is the author of five books, including Deep Change: Professional Development from the Inside Out and Writing Matters in Every Classroom. Her professional licensures include secondary English, secondary administration, and gifted/talented education. Although she is a resident of coastal South Carolina, she travels almost every week of the year, working with educators all over the world to improve instruction.

 

Quick Takes 
CAPE Outlook
 
The lead article in this month's edition of the CAPE Outlook newsletter, published by the Council for American Private Education, notes that residents of Florida will have an opportunity to redress the state's "Blaine Amendment" in this coming November's election.   "Blaine Amendments," which receive their name from James G. Blaine, the 19th-century legislator who championed them, refer to state constitutional prohibitions against the use of public funding to aid sectarian institutions.  States throughout the nation, California included, can point to "Blaine Amendments" in their constitutions, making the upcoming Florida vote an occasion for nation-wide interest.  The CAPE Outlook article provides background and context to the development in Florida, comments on the history of "Blaine Amendments," and cites both historical and ahistorical arguments in support of their repeal.

The newsletter, available in PDF format at no cost, also offers articles on the U.S. Department of Education's recently released new guidance on ESEA flexibility, and lists newly legislated appropriation levels for a number of federal education programs that afford benefits to private school students and educators, and more.


Green Ribbon Schools Update

The online application for schools wishing to seek nominee status for the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon School designation is now available via the California Department of Education Website.  The application, as well as a "Guide to Completing the California State Green Ribbon School Application," and other support documents can be found, here.
 
As was noted in the previous edition of the E-Mailer, the application is daunting, and the window for submission of information is tight, with a deadline of 5 p.m., on Friday, February 17.  During this, the program's pilot year, no more than one private school from California will be selected as a nominee, eligible for receipt of the USDE's Green Ribbon School designation following the submittal of additional information. 

Despite these caveats, interested private school officials are encouraged to study the application and related materials.  If your school is interested in making application this year, please let us know by providing your contact information, here.


SpeakMandarin.com
 

Nathan: Hello Rachel! How's the weather in Beijing?

 

Rachel: It's raining here, but there are still lots of people on the street. These days, there are more and more crowds in large cities. Have you been to China before?

 

Nathan: Yes, I've been to Nanjing three times. The first time was in 1997. 

 

Rachel: It was not so crowded back then. Not many people drove cars.

 

Nathan: Yes, I remember many people rode bikes.

 

The above conversation took place on an ordinary morning at Pacific Ridge School, when Nathan, a student in the Chinese 3 class, started his oral Chinese practice session with his tutor Rachel from Beijing, where it was midnight. Under the tutoring program provided by SpeakMandarin.com, each of the students in the Chinese program of Pacific Ridge School is connected with a private, native speaking tutor to practice what they've learned in the class, one-on-one, live via the Internet.

 

Oftentimes, children who are learning to speak Mandarin Chinese in traditional USA classrooms do not have opportunities to practice their newfound skills in a real life setting. SpeakMandarin.com provides such supplementary practice that allows students to do so without having to travel to China. The online class is delivered through an online virtual classroom, where students and teachers can communicate while sharing PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, pictures, and other teaching materials simultaneously, and collaborate using whiteboarding, note-taking, and annotation tools. Students are thus able to practice and hone their speaking and listening skills under a native language environment right in their classrooms.

 

SpeakMandarin.com is an online Mandarin Chinese language tutoring company based in Beijing and San Diego, California. By utilizing the latest pedagogical approaches and the latest Internet technology, SpeakMandarin.com provides live online, one-on-one Mandarin Chinese training with native speaking, certified teachers to people of all ages worldwide. Their teachers are highly qualified, experienced, and all come from some of China's top universities (Peking University, Beijing Language and Culture University, and more). These same teachers are all well versed in teaching the Chinese language, having all majored in teaching Mandarin Chinese as a second language (with a teaching credential as well).  For more details about the programs, please visit www.SpeakMandarin.com

 

SpeakMandarin.com is now offering a whole-quarter free trial to schools interested in supplementary sessions to their Chinese language programs, including after-school programs. Please contact Yang Yang, Director of Business Development, at [email protected]

 

Note:  SpeakMandarin.com was an exhibitor at CAPSO's 12th Triennial Convention. 

My Day in Court
CAPSO Logo GIFAs might be imagined, I receive a considerable number of emails and phone calls from people who have questions about laws to which private schools are subject.  It is my custom to begin my response to such inquiries with the following disclaimer:  I am not an attorney.  The information contained in this correspondence is neither intended as legal advice, nor should be so construed. If only I had known that I would someday have the privilege of serving as CAPSO's executive director I might well have chosen to attend law school.  Considering the amount of time I spend reading proposed laws, scouring codes and regulations, reviewing legal briefs and judicial opinions, and even proposing changes to the drafting of laws-in-the-making, legal training would have served me well.  But alas!  I'm just a layman...a fact that readers should bear in mind as they consume what follows.

Last Thursday morning I observed the oral argument before the California Supreme Court in the matter of Quarry v. Doe 1.  The disposition of the case is of significant interest to California's private school community, so-much so that CAPSO authorized the drafting of an amicus curiae brief in support of the Respondent.  At issue is the ability of a victim of childhood sexual molestation to advance a claim against a third-party after discovering many years in the future that his/her adult psychological injuries resulted from the childhood abuse.  In the view of the Respondent, current law prohibits such an eventuality.

From a school's perspective, an unfavorable ruling in the case would prove troubling. While we are sensitive to and supportive of the right of victims to seek redress, we also affirm the right of accused parties to reasonably defend themselves when claims are brought against them.  In the matter of Quarry, if the state Supreme Court should fail to reverse the finding of the Court of Appeals, the statute of limitations for claims brought against third parties would, effectively, be eliminated.  An individual would have three years from the time he/she discovered that his/her adult psychological injuries resulted from an act of childhood sexual abuse in which to bring a claim against a third party, including schools.  Such discovery might occur many decades later than the actual occurrence of the alleged abuse, long after the alleged perpetrator and, conceivably, any other staff member continued to be employed. 
 
How might a school reasonably defend itself against such claims?  How would it go about securing necessary witnesses and documentation?  What would happen if prior insurance policies had not been retained?  What if former insurance companies no longer existed? (And how could an individual know with certainty that an adult psychological injury, for example, depression, is attributable to one particular cause, to the exclusion of others?)  Clearly, such considerations are problematic.

So much for background.  Last Thursday, at precisely 9:00 a.m., the seven justices filed into the impressive fourth-floor chamber of the Supreme Court building located in San Francisco's Civic Center.  (The Court also hears arguments in Los Angeles and Sacramento.)  Seated in the center of the elevated dais was Tani Cantil-Sakauye, a Philippina-American who, as the session was called to order by the Court Clerk, would commence her second year as Chief Justice.  Hers is a fascinating story.  After completing both her undergraduate studies and legal training at U.C. Davis, and finding herself unable to secure employment in the legal profession, the future Chief Justice moved to Reno, Nevada, where she became a blackjack dealer.  Only in America!
 
Oral argument before the court is allotted one hour of time, with each side granted no more than thirty minutes.  Typically, one attorney, standing behind a platform positioned in front of and below the dais, speaks on behalf of each side. At Thursday's proceeding, Respondents were represented by Margaret M. Grignon, a partner with the firm of Reed Smith who served as a California Appellate Court judge for fourteen years.  Representing the Appellants was Irwin M. Zalkin, of the San Diego based Zalkin law firm. 

At oral argument, the respective attorneys may attempt to give speeches, but the vast majority of the time consists of the justices peppering them with questions.  Some are of the opinion that the justices have made up their minds in advance of the oral argument and, perhaps, have even written much of their opinion(s).  (In California, Supreme Court opinions must be published no more than ninety days following oral argument.) 

In the seat next to mine was Steve Greene, one of the attorneys - and a great friend of CAPSO's - who authored the amicus brief submitted on CAPSO's behalf.  Before the proceedings commenced, I asked Steve: After hearing an oral argument, with what degree of certainty would you say you are able to predict the Court's ensuing opinion?  Steve didn't hesitate to answer.  "Zero," he said.  Nevertheless, those present, including Steve and yours truly, spent the next sixty minutes intently observing the demeanor of the various justices, jotting down notes by hand - no electronic devices of any kind are permitted in the courtroom - and looking for telltale clues in body language, facial gestures and sotto voce asides.

I will not attempt to provide a running account of the proceedings, and I have no inkling as to what the Court will decide.  I would, however, like to share a few personal observations. First and foremost, the spectacle itself is formidable.  I would encourage readers who, like me, are not attorneys but who have an interest in the law, to observe the oral argument in a case of interest, should an opportunity to do so present itself.

The discussion focused on several subsections of Section 340.1 of the California Code of Civil Procedure.  One line of questioning invoked by several justices asked whether legislative language addressing the renewal of claims or the extension of a statute of limitation was required to be of an express nature, or could be implied.  Ms. Grignon, arguing for the Respondents, was forceful in asserting that such language must be express, and, in my reading of their responses, the justices appeared to concur.  When Appellants' attorney Zalkin, however, opened by declaring what he viewed as the key legislative language to be "clear, unambiguous and unassailable," Justice Joyce Kennard uttered a very audible, "Wow!"  Mr. Zalkin then proceeded, despite some obvious impatience on the part of several justices, to construct a decidedly inferential argument in support of his reading of the law.  Yet, when Justice Ming Chin asked him point-blank whether the section in question was express, Mr. Zalkin replied, "In my view it is."  This contention was rebuffed by none other than Justice Goodwin Liu, whom I had presumed, by virtue of his early questioning of Ms. Grignon, to lean in the direction of Appellants. 

That wasn't the only instance in which - in my lay view - Mr. Zalkin may have shot himself in the foot.  In his questioning of Ms. Grignon, Justice Marvin Baxter appeared to be opening the door to the view that "tolling" provisions contradict the notion of an "absolute bar" against the revival of claims against third parties.  (In legal terminology, "tolling" denotes a permissible suspension of the running of time on a statute of limitations.)  While Ms. Grignon, who had invoked the term "absolute bar," agreed, Mr. Zalkin declared that the key legislative language was "not about tolling."  While true, it seemed to me that he missed an opportunity to have proceeded in a more fruitful direction.
 
Mr. Zalkin may have made one more error of a non-substantive nature.  Upon concluding his original remarks and taking his seat he was advised by the Chief Justice that he had an additional nine minutes of time remaining.  Returning to the lectern, Mr. Zalkin spent the majority of his remaining time speaking in a somewhat emotional tone about the damage to society wreaked by childhood sexual abuse, even going so far as to suggest that the courtroom was populated by a good number of people who are protective of perpetrators.  Following the conclusion of his remarks, an otherwise staid Justice Carol Corrigan used the word "histrionics," in reference to what we had all just heard.

Outside the courtroom, I received my final instructive lesson of the day from CAPSO Vice-President Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, and a fellow lobbyist (and esteemed mentor).  To paraphrase, Ned told me: "This is a lesson to those of us who work with legislators that we can never be too diligent when it comes to the attention we pay to language.  Every word counts."

Stay tuned!

Ron Reynolds
Publication Note
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The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published February 1, 2012.