|
Private School Enrollment Report (2010-2011)
 The 2010-2011 school year saw increases in both the number of private schools located in the state of California, and the number of students who attend them, according to data provided by the California Department of Education and compiled by CAPSO. In the Golden State, one out of every four schools offering instruction in any of grades K-12 is a private school. In 2010-2011, the total number of private schools rose to 3,358, and total private school enrollment climbed to 515,143. On a year-to-year basis the number of private schools increased 1.7 percent, and total enrollment grew by one-half-of-one-percent. While modest, the bump in enrollment comes on the heels of a 4.3 percent decline the preceding year. Of all private schools, nearly 70 percent were constituted on a nonprofit basis and accounted for close to 90 percent of the state's total private school enrollment. Median enrollment - the point at which half the distribution is greater, and half is lesser - in nonprofit private schools was more than seven times greater that that of for-profit schools. However, for-profit schools enjoyed substantial increases in both numbers and enrollment (7.1 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively), while corresponding figures for nonprofit schools remained essentially flat. Roughly 60 percent of California's private schools were religiously oriented, and accounted for close to 80 percent of the state's total private school enrollment. While the number of religious schools increased just over one percent on a year-to-year basis, enrollment actually dipped by half-a-percent. Over the same period, schools with secular orientations saw increases both in number (2.7 percent), and enrollment (3.8 percent). Median enrollment in schools with religious orientations was three-and-a-half times greater than that of private schools with secular orientations (129 vs. 36). Twenty-three counties experienced an increase in the number of private schools located within their boundaries, and 19 counties saw an overall increase in private school enrollment. At the same time, twenty counties experienced a decline in the number of private schools, while 33 counties saw a decrease in overall private school enrollment. Of all counties with total private school enrollments in excess of 5,000 students, Marin County experienced the greatest gain in overall enrollment (17 percent), while San Francisco saw the greatest decline (6 percent). California's private schools employed 41,767 teachers on a full-time basis in 2010-2011, an increase of 1.5 percent from the prior year. For all private schools, the student-to-teacher ratio declined slightly, from 12.5-to-1 to 12.3-to-1. While schools with secular orientations tended to have significantly lower student-to-teacher ratios than religiously oriented schools (9.4-to-1, as opposed to 13.6-to-1), religious schools experienced a more pronounced year-to-year change in the ratio, which fell from 14.1 students-per-teacher in 2009-2010 to 13.6 in 2010-2011. CAPSO has released the latest edition of "California's Private Schools: A Portrait of Enrollment." Highlights, as well as the full report can be viewed, or downloaded, here. |
|
Uncertainty Accompanies Launch of New School Year
 The 2012-2013 school year kicks off under a cloud of fiscal uncertainty at both the state and federal levels. While California's budget projects revenues that are $12.5 billion higher than those realized in the previous year, about half this amount is contingent upon passage of the tax package proposed by Governor Brown. In November, voters will decide whether to approve the ballot measure which will increase the state income tax levied on annual earnings over $250,000 for a period of five years, and increase the state's sales and use tax by 1/2 cent for a period of four years. If the Governor's tax package should win approval, the state's K-12 public schools will essentially receive the same amount of funding as in the prior year. Should the ballot measure fail, however, K-12 public schools and state-funded higher education will be saddled with approximately $6.1 billion in "trigger cuts." To offset the impact of such cuts, the budget authorizes public school districts to reduce the school year by as much as 15 fewer days of instruction. At the federal level, barring congressional intervention, a series of hefty reductions in both discretionary and mandatory spending will be automatically triggered at the outset of the new calendar year. Readers may recall that the agreement resolving last summer's debt-ceiling impasse included the formation of a bipartisan congressional committee tasked with proposing legislation that would reduce government spending by at least $1.2 trillion over a ten-year period. The agreement also specified that were Congress to fail to enact such legislation prior to Thanksgiving, 2011, automatic cuts, also known as "sequestration," would take effect at the beginning of 2013. Indeed, Congress was unable to enact the necessary spending reduction legislation. If sequestration goes into effect, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the U.S. Department of Education's current budget of $68.1 billion will be reduced by as much as 7.8 percent in fiscal year 2012. As Education Week sees it, "The prospect of automatic cuts to both domestic and defense programs was intended as a kind of doomsday scenario to push bipartisan action on a long-term plan to rein in federal spending. But so far, Congress has failed to reach agreement. Now that the January 2 effective date for the 'trigger cuts' is drawing closer, education advocates are beginning to sound the alarm bells." Should sequestration occur, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has indicated that Title I funding could be reduced by as much as $1.1 billion, and that federal funding for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act could lose up to $900 million. As private schools engage in consultation with public school district officials concerning the use of federal funds to provide equitable services to private school students, teachers and other education personnel, this memo from the U.S. Department of Education to chief state school officers may be of assistance. Should district officials indicate that the possibility of impending sequestration makes it impossible to plan for the coming year, private school representatives may wish to direct their attention to the following portion of the memo: "It has come to our attention that some States may have urged school districts to hold back on spending for the 2012-13 school year because of the possibility of sequestration. Assuming Congress enacts a 2013 appropriations bill that is structured similarly to the pending House or Senate bills-a reasonable assumption based on past practice-there is no reason to believe that a sequestration would affect funding for the 2012-13 school year." The memo goes on to advise that: "...the potential for sequestration should not upset planning and hiring decisions for the immediately upcoming 2012-13 school year." Should difficulty be encountered arising from claims made concerning the anticipated sequestration of funds, please notify CAPSO. |
|
Quick Takes
 Green Ribbon SchoolsCAPSO will once again oversee the private school component of California's participation in the 2012-2013 Green Ribbon Schools (GRS) award program. GRS is a national program administered by the U.S. Department of Education that endeavors to bestow recognition upon schools "...that are exemplary in reducing environmental impact and costs; improving the health and wellness of students and staff; and providing effective environmental and sustainability education, which incorporates STEM, civic skills and green career pathways." As was the case last year, the California Department of Education will nominate up to four schools - one of which will be a private school - for consideration by the USDE. Last year, The Athenian School (Danville), achieved the GRS designation in the program's pilot year. Online applications will become available during the second week of September, with the deadline for submissions occurring during the first week of December. Stay tuned for additional information!
On The Horizon (Free Newsletter)
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 information, parent resources, and other free and low-cost events and resources. If you'd like to join the list serve, which already counts 1,400 subscribers statewide, just send an email to Bob Tyra at btyra2.0@gmail.com Workplace Posters Requirements for Private Schools (From the U.S. Department of Education Office of Non-Public Education) Private schools are employers. As such they are required to post certain Federal and State workplace notices. The Federal posters that private schools are likely to be required to post include the following: Job Safety and Health Protection (occupational safety and health); Equal Employment Opportunity Is The Law; Your Rights Under The Family and Medical Leave Act; Federal Minimum Wage; and Notice: Employee Polygraph Protection Act. To read more about Workplace Posters Requirements, click here.
Green Schools Summit & ExpoThe Green California Schools Summit and Exposition will take place at the Pasadena Convention Center on September 27 and 28, 2012. The Summit is the state's largest annual gathering of green school leaders. Through an Expo with over 100 companies offering green products and services, a full educational program of workshops and concurrent sessions, and special events like its annual Leadership Awards, the Summit offers two days of total immersion in all aspects of green schools. Included will be a full-day workshop on California's landmark Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) curriculum. The Summit is being held concurrently with the Green California Community Colleges Summits. Attendees will have access to the sessions, workshops and panels at both Summits. On September 27, the Summit's Leadership Awards will recognize achievements in categories ranging from green building and energy efficiency to curriculum. Keynotes and exhibit hall are free. Additional information and online registration can be found, here. Educators and parents at schools affiliated with a CAPSO member organization can receive a 20 percent registration discount by using the promo code "CAPSO" (all caps). Should you have questions, or seek additional information about the Summit, please call Cindy Dangberg at 626-577-5700. |
|
They Like You
 Whatever one's views concerning Facebook, one must marvel at an enterprise that has succeeded in garnering the participation of nearly a billion human beings. (That's billion, with a 'b'.) In less than a decade, Mark Zuckerberg and his associates have tweaked an ensemble of simple-but-compelling ideas into a cyber-platform housing a global array of social networks. Whether one regards it as an indispensable tool for relating, sharing, celebrating and remembering, or a black hole of banality, it's hard to argue with the proposition that Facebook is changing the manner in which we relate, associate, and congregate. What is it that provides Facebook with its universal allure? On the most basic level, it neatly packages a suite of utilities that enable people to find, connect and share information with one another. On a somewhat deeper (and admittedly speculative) level, it offers its denizens a platform for the display of self that provides a sense of transcendent presence. While I could continue down this path, I suspect that Facebook's most compelling aspect is to be found elsewhere. Indeed, I'm convinced that the most powerful draw of the world's most popular social media site is located in one of its simplest features: the "Like" button. The addition of the "Like" button was a genuine stroke of genius, for who amongst us doesn't take pleasure in receiving objective evidence of the approval of others? Never mind the fact that we often infer others' like for us from mouse clicks tendered in response to photos of chili cheese fries, videos of funny animal tricks, or superficial political quips. The truth is we love being liked. And if there's anything we love even more than being liked, it's likely to be liking. When we click the like button, we don't only signal our approval of others; we tell ourselves that our opinion matters...which is to say, we matter. Clicking the like button is an act of self-affirmation. Of course, compulsive clicking of the like button can prove to be the opposite of empowering, and those who too easily and too often tender approval gradually depreciate the value of their likes. It's similar to depressing a self-medicating-pain-killer plunger in a hospital. Do it in moderation and you feel better; overdo it and you kill its benefit. As a receiver of validation, one wishes to receive likes from those who are stingiest with their expressions of approbation. I hasten to add that there's a certain relativity here that must be taken into account. Being liked by the same woman may yield a greater degree of satisfaction to her son-in-law than to her grandchild. As in a gymnastics routine, the degree of difficulty is greater in the former relationship. (Someone is bound to write a doctoral dissertation titled "The Calculus of Facebook Likeability.") Examples of high degree of difficulty likes include a Boston Red Sox player being liked by a New York Yankees fan, Harry Reid being liked by Mitt Romney, Campbell Brown being liked by Randi Weingarten, and parents being liked by their teenage children. In addition to parents, add any authority figure or institutional source of authority. Clicking a Facebook Like button is most often a non-anonymous act. This, too, can diminish the value of a like, as expectations, recrimination and potential repercussions come into play. Uncle Ted's photo of his new outdoor grill may be of no interest, whatsoever, to you, but you may be hearing from your mother should you be the only nephew not to like it. Put it all together and one might conclude that likes offered anonymously by teenagers to schools - familiar embodiments of institutional authority that they are - should be among the most coveted expressions of approval and meaningful indicators of value. Which makes a recently reported survey finding altogether noteworthy. In a national sample of high school students, teens enrolled in private schools were almost twice as likely to give their schools a grade of 'A' than the overall population (60 vs. 33 percent). The study, "The State of Our Nation's Youth: 2012-2013," conducted by the Horatio Alger Association, can be found, here. So, whether you're beginning the new school year in a private school classroom, administrative office, or support position of any type, take heart in reflecting that you are probably liked by those whose young lives you labor to inspire, instruct and improve. They may not let you know with a mouse click, but that's because the appreciation they feel is both emergent and profound, and chances are they'll end up thanking you through the people they become and the manner in which they live their lives. Keep up your great work. And may you like the results. Ron Reynolds |
|
Publication Note
The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published on September 12, 2012.
|
|
