Last week, President Barack Obama released his $3.8 trillion budget request for fiscal year 2012-2013.  The massive document seeks $69.8 billion in discretionary spending for the U.S. Department of Education, representing a 2.5 percent increase over the current year's figure.  An 82-page summary of the Administration's requested funding for education can be found, here.  The entire proposed budget can be downloaded in a single, 256-page (4.6 MB) PDF document,  here.  Additional information can be found at the Administration's Office of Management and Budget website, here.

The Administration is also seeking funding for two "stimulus" holdovers that were included in last year's "American Jobs Act," which failed to gain congressional approval.  The President is, once again, asking Congress to authorize $30 billion, each, for the prevention of teacher layoffs and the repair of school infrastructure.

The Administration's signature Race to the Top Fund program emerges as a notable potential winner, with requested funding of $850 million for FY 2013, an increase of nearly 55 percent from its current $550 million level.  When RTTF was initiated, it was widely thought that the Obama Administration's intent was for the competitive grant program to become a template for programmatic makeovers in a reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act.  While ESEA has yet to be rewritten, other elements in the FY 2013 budget request appear to confirm this view.  Most notably for private schools, the newly released requested budget would appear to morph ESEA's current Title II, Part A into a new program titled "Effective Teachers and Leaders State Grants."  Approximately 25 percent of the nearly $2.5 billion proposed for the new program would be set aside for competitive, rather than formula grants, a policy that could reduce funding available to support professional development activities for private school teachers and administrators.

It's almost that time of year.  This Friday (February 24) marks the deadline for the introduction of new bills in the California Legislature.  By the close of the day, our state lawmakers will have some 3,000 pending bills to consider...and CAPSO scans every one of them to find provisions of interest and/or concern to the state's private school community.  Our Public Policy Committee is already busy evaluating bills so as to make action recommendations to CAPSO's board of directors and member-organization contacts.

When CAPSO takes a position on a bill, we often call upon members of our stakeholder groups to weigh in by taking personal action in the form of an email, letter, or phone call to key elected officials.  The easiest way to become aware of these opportunities for involvement is via CAPSO's Legislative Action Center. Visit the site's home page now, and bookmark it.  Scroll down the page and click on the "Action E-List" link in order to receive email alerts so that you'll be ready to help make a difference when called upon. 

While still on the home page, check out the "Policy Tools" links appearing in the right hand column on the lower portion of the page. Do some exploring.  You'll quickly find that our Legislative Action Center places a wonderful set of tools just a couple of mouse-clicks away.  Need to find out who serves on a particular legislative committee?  Just click the "State Legislative Committee" link, click

"See All California State Committees" and select either the Senate or Assembly committee.  For example, under "Assembly," click on "Education."  If you want information about any particular committee member, click on their name and you'll access a page containing contact information, a complete listing of the committees upon which the official serves, and a link to the official's own web site.

Take a few minutes to explore the remainder of the links found under "Policy Tools."  Once CAPSO begins taking positions on pending bills and administrative actions, the link you'll want to keep an eye on is "Issues and Legislation."  This is where you'll find our legislative alerts, along with our reasons for supporting, opposing, or asking that a particular bill be amended.  If we've taken a position, you'll also find a link to a pre-scripted email that can either be sent in your name, as is, or modified so as to personalize elements of the message. 

 

 

 

CAPSO Presenter Donates $50 Million

 

I knew that would grab your attention!  And it's true.  An individual who has presented at a previous CAPSO Convention has just announced a $50 million gift.  The person in question is Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, who, together with his wife, Karin, has bestowed a record setting gift upon UCLA's School of Public Health.  In consideration of the Fieldings' largesse, the school will come to be known as the Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health.  The Los Angeles Times reports the story, here.

 

Dr. Fielding, whose department has long been mindful of and friendly to private schools, was gracious enough to have personally conducted a session on the prevalence and prevention of childhood obeisity at CAPSO's 2005 Triennial Convention.  I remember the occasion well because the venerable speaker, who holds M.D., M.A. and M.P.H. degrees from Harvard University, and holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business Administration, needed assistance when it came to plugging in his LCD projector, thus demonstrating that he's only human.  And a wonderful one at that.  Congratulations, Dr. and Mrs. Fielding, and UCLA!

 

 

March Musings

 

Last year, CAPSO was a supporter of legislation that established March as "Read Across California Month."  Now that March is just around the corner, you may wish to check out the Read Across California website, where you can examine recommended book lists organized by age groups, reading tips for parents of young children, a link to the Read Across California blog, and other resources. 

 

Did you know that the California State Legislature has designated March 22 as California Private School Recognition Day?  In 2004, thanks to the leadership of then-Senator Bruce McPherson, SCR 58 - a CAPSO-sponsored resolution - was passed and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The resolution recognizes that, "California's private schools are significant partners in the education of the greater public."  If nothing else, set aside a minute to read the full resolution on March 22!

I was flipping channels on my car radio when I heard the first report of the tragedy at Miramonte Elementary School.  No sooner did I hear the words, a teacher in a south Los Angeles school has been arrested, than I found myself uttering a silent supplication: please...not a private school.  A petty thought?  Possibly.  Self serving?  Probably.  But I share my reaction only for the purpose of disclosing my belief that the acts in question could have occurred in one of our schools. To believe otherwise is to invite calamity.

Sadly, our society is not lacking for individuals who derive sexual gratification through the commision of acts of abuse against children. The "Willie Sutton Principle" suggests that such predators are more likely to seek employment in schools because that's where the children are.  Moreover, one would expect such persons to be proportionately distributed among public and private schools.  If close to ninety percent of all children in grades K-12 are enrolled in public schools, it stands to reason that a comparable percentage of teachers possessing such proclivities is employed, therein.  If close to ten percent of the total pool of "ticking time bomb" teachers are employed in private schools, we had best pay heed. And, overwhelmingly, I believe we do.

Neither the details that emerged nor the events that transpired  subsequent to the arrest of Mark Berndt evoked in me a reflexive fear that the same school culture is likely to exist in a CAPSO member-affiliated school. We had, after all, learned that two possible victims of abuse had approached a school counselor a number of years prior to Mr. Berndt's arrest and had described behavior on the part of their teacher that warranted investigation.  Instead, the students were essentially rebuffed, having been told not to make up stories.  When concerned parents brought suspect photos to the attention of the school's principal, they were met with a dismissive attitude, and told that the photos might have been part of a school project.

We also discovered that the alleged perpetrator, Mark Berndt, was never actually terminated.  When the district moved to fire him, Mr. Berndt challenged the action, and ultimately resigned, (leaving him able to collect $4,000 a month in pension payments and related benefits).  Coincidentally, two days after Mr. Berndt's arrest, a second teacher at the same school, Martin Bernard Springer, was taken into custody for the suspected commission of other alleged abusive acts.

Miramonte Elementary School is situated in one of Los Angeles' poorest neighborhoods.  The area is predominantly Latino.  To the extent that parents harbored suspicions, some may have failed to come forward owing to linguistic challenges.  Others may be undocumented, and feared the grim prospect of deportation.  Still others may have learned from those who did step up to share their concerns that doing so was met with indifference, or worse.  Miramonte may well be a public school, but one would be hard pressed to say it truly belongs to its students and their parents.  When the consumers of education are rendered powerless, the notion of accountability becomes little more than a cruel slogan.

Reacting shortly after Mr. Berndt's arrest, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy offered a comment he may live to regret should charges of negligence be forthcoming.  Said Mr. Deasy: "I'm definitely trying to understand how someone could not have known."  Indeed.  Is it plausible that no one found it suspicious when a teacher repeatedly invited students into his classroom during recess and lunch periods and locked the door?  Can it be that school administrators failed to make periodic unscheduled visits to classrooms?  Or, will it prove to be the case that in an employment environment in which it takes five years and $500,000, on average, to terminate a teacher who has no business being in a classroom, administrators are inclined to look the other way?

We are certain to learn more about a school culture that permitted criminal acts against children to transpire, undetected, over a period of years.  Following the arrests of Mssrs. Berndt and Springer, related charges have surfaced in other local public schools.  The LAUSD is certain to conduct a thorough series of investigations.  As additional information emerges, all schools - public and private - would do well to compare and contrast.  We all remain at risk.

Ron Reynolds

The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published on March 14, 2012.