CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer
   California Association of Private School Organizations 
February 27, 2013 
Volume 6, Number 10
In This Issue

-- CAPSO Presents New Legal Issues Workshop

-- CPSAC Announces New Spring Workshops

-- Quick Takes

-- If This Doesn't Make You Angry...

-- Publication Note

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CAPSO Presents New Legal Issues Workshop
The California Association of Private School Associations is pleased to announce a new "Emerging Legal Issues for Private Schools"  workshop for private school administrators and business managers.  Registrants from schools affiliated with a  CAPSO member organization are eligible for our special member rate.


The "Ministerial Exception" and Your School

Presented by:
Michael Blacher and Grace Chan
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore

                   April 30, 2013
                   8:30 AM to 11:00 AM
                   Diocese of Oakland Cathedral Conference Center
                   2121 Harrison St.
                   Oakland, CA  94612
                   (Parking available on the premises)

Registration Fees

$25.00 per-person (member rate for registrants whose schools are affiliated with CAPSO member organizations).  To view a list of CAPSO member organizations, click here.

$80.00
per-person for non-members.
Registration fee includes continental breakfast.

Workshop BackgroundReligious schools are not subject to the same laws as their secular counterparts. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision held that a teacher at a religious school could not bring a claim of employment discrimination under the "Ministerial Exception." The unanimous ruling contains potentially significant implications for faith-based private schools, but also raises additional questions and concerns. This workshop will explain and explore the Ministerial Exception's application to your school.

Questions to be Answered & Issues to be Addressed
  • What is the "Ministerial Exception?
  • What was decided in the U.S. Supreme Court's Hosanna-Tabor Case, and what does it mean for faith-based private schools?
  • For purposes of the ministerial exception:
    • what is a "church?"
    • who is a "minister?
    • what claims are covered?
  • Is it advantageous for a faith-based private school to designate faculty members and other employees as "ministers?"
  • What are some possible drawbacks?
  • What issues remain unresolved? 
The presentation will be interactive.  Participants will be afforded ample opportunity to ask questions.

More information about the workshop, including presenter bios, can be found, here.  A registration form can be downloaded/printed, here.
 
CPSAC Announces New Spring Workshops
The California Private School Advisory Committee, K-12 is pleased to announce several multi-day professional development workshops for private school educators.  Each of these high-quality-at-low-cost programs is funded in part by Title II, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and is provided in cooperation with the California Department of Education. 

Below, you will find basic information about each workshop. Please click on the relevant accompanying links for descriptions of each program's content, information about the presenters, and downloadable registration forms.  

Student Engagement and Higher Order Comprehension
& Thinking Skills for the 21st Century

A three-day workshop for private school teachers

and instructional staff, grades 4-12 

 

Click here for additional information and registration form.

 

Presenter:   Julie Adams, M.A.T., NBCT 


Dates:         March 5 & 6, and April 11, 2013

Location:    St. Michael's School
                   15542 Pomerado Rd.
                   Poway, CA  92064

Hours:         8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. each day.

Registration Fee:  $50.00 per person if postmarked or faxed on or before February 22, 2013.  Otherwise, $70.00 per person.  Fee covers all three days of the program and includes materials, continental breakfast, and lunch. 

 

Workshop Preview

 

This fast-paced and interactive three-day workshop for 4-12th grade math, science, English, and social science teachers, aides, literacy coaches, instructional leaders, and administrators, will provide training in research-based content area strategies that engage and motivate students to develop the 21st century critical thinking skills necessary for success across ALL content areas.  

 

Participants will learn the latest research regarding effective content area instructional practices and their link to student retention, brain development and higher-order thought processes. In addition, you will expand your teaching repertoire with methods that improve student comprehension, accountability and focus.  

 

Whether you teach 4th grade or 11th, science or English, this is one training you cannot afford to miss!   

 

About the Presenter

 

Julie Adams, MAT, NBCT, is an energetic educator who has taught multiple content areas from kindergarten through graduate school. She is an internationally respected and highly sought after consultant providing 21st century critical thinking and content area literacy and writing trainings to public and private schools and universities worldwide. 

 

Julie, founder of Adams Educational Consulting, is a Nationally Board Certified teacher and Educator of the Year, who equips teachers with engaging strategies that empower students with content area literacy comprehension, 21st Century skills and complex reasoning. In addition, she partners with the California League of Schools and the National High School Association to provide training in and implementation of Professional Learning Communities and Response to Intervention models for increased student achievement. 

 

Her published books include the teaching series: Teaching Academic Vocabulary Effectively, Parts I-III and PDP Cornell Notes-A Systematic Strategy to Aid Comprehension.  

 

__________

 

Examining Student Work and Providing Precise Feedback

A three-day workshop for private school teachers

and administrators of students in grades 5-12 

 

Click here for additional information and registration form.

 

Presenter:   Kay Psencik, Ed.D.  


Dates:          March 12 & 13, and April 9, 2013

Location:     Aquinas High School
                    2772 Sterling Ave.
                    San Bernardino, CA  92404

Hours:          8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. each day.

Registration Fee: $45.00 per person if postmarked or faxed on or before March 1, 2013.  Otherwise, $65.00 per person.  Fee covers all three days of the program and includes materials, continental breakfast, and lunch.  

 

Workshop Preview

 

Student work reflects the precise learning of students. Many questions are left unanswered when we only use tests? What does the student really understand about the concepts I wanted them to know? Why did the student select the answer she did? What was his real thinking about that question when he answered it? But student work reveals students' organizational skills, their elaboration of concepts and ideas, their voice and thinking. 

 

As we examine student work, we learn not only more about our students, we also see their interpretations of what we wanted them to learn. Careful examination of their work through the use of rubrics, anchor work, and analytical scales, leads us to a deeper understanding of their learning and provides us the "language" for precise feedback. 

 

Participants in this session will explore a variety of strategies for examining student work both individually and with their peers. They will establish systems or protocols for examining student work so that they maximize the use of time, provide effective vigilance and structure to their work, and determine the language of precise feedback, as well as how and when to give it. 

 

About the Presenter

 

Kay Psencik, Ed.D. has been an educator for over 45 years. She is a senior consultant with Learning Forward, the national organization committed to engaging every educator in effective professional learning so that every student achieves. She has served teachers across the country in developing assessments of and for learning and designing instruction based on the data from these strategies. She has facilitated teams to analyze standards, to target essential learning, to determine underlying concepts, to incorporate higher-order 21st Century thinking skills, and to develop common assessments of and for learning and standards driven instructional planning. 

 

She has published articles in Educational Leadership, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Texas Association of School Administrators and The School Administrator. She coauthored
Transforming Schools through Powerful Planning. She also published Accelerating Student and Staff Learning, Purposeful Curriculum Collaboration (Corwin Press, 2009). A new book, The Coach's Craft, was published by Learning Forward in December 2011. 

 

Prior to her beginning her work as a consultant, she was a director of curriculum and assessment and deputy superintendent in school districts in Texas, and a classroom teacher for 17 years. 

 

Dr. Psencik earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a Master of Educational Administration from Southwest Texas State University, and a Doctorate from Baylor
University.  

__________  

 

 

Integrating Critical & Creative Thinking Skills
Into Your Primary Curriculum

A three-day workshop for private school teachers

and instructional staff, grades K-3

 

Click here for additional information and registration form.

 

Presenter:   Dodie Merrit, M.A.   


Dates:          March 19 & 20, and April 23, 2013

Location:     Stockdale Christian School
                    4901 California Ave.
                    Bakersfield, CA  93309

Hours:          8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. each day.

Registration Fee: $45.00 per person if postmarked or faxed on or before March 5, 2013.  Otherwise, $65.00 per person.  Fee covers all three days of the program and includes materials, continental breakfast, and lunch.  

 

Workshop Preview

 

Looking for activities that inspire critical and creative thinking in your primary K-3 classroom? Primary Education Thinking Skills is a flexible, fun, and stimulating approach for teaching these higher level thinking skills. This interactive workshop will include hands-on activities and lots of discussion. Come brainstorm, solve mysteries, and make criterion-based choices today - and spark higher level thinking in your classroom tomorrow! 

 

On Days 1 and 2, you will work with a cadre of six "thinking specialists" to explore divergent, convergent, evaluative, and visual problem solving strategies appropriate for primary students through a series of whole class and small group activities. Working in grade level groups, you will align these strategies with elements of your curriculum to make metacognition engagingly student-friendly. On Day 3, we will discuss your experiences field-testing these activities, sharing successes and ideas. Then you will focus on integrating a variety of higher level thinking and questioning strategies into class lessons of your choice that support a firm foundation for successful reading, writing, and learning in your students. 

 

Each participant will receive a workshop packet along with the Primary Education Thinking Skills book which include/s complete lesson plans and reproducible student materials on CD's.  

 

About the Presenter

 

Dodie Merritt has been working in the field of education for over 35 years, teaching at the primary, secondary, and university levels with a focus on gifted education. She is renowned for her development of the Primary Education Thinking Skills series, used in classrooms across the country. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College, her teacher certification from Northern Illinois University, and her Masters Degree in Teaching and Leadership from St. Xavier University. 

 

As an educational consultant, Dodie has presented at the national, state, and local levels throughout the United States on a wide range of topics, including curriculum differentiation, assessment, higher level thinking and questioning strategies, and gifted education. She has led the development and implementation of elementary enrichment programs for students. She also authored of Independent Study: Where Creative Minds Expand for older primary students as well as co-authoring of other educational materials published by Pieces of Learning. Dodie is an energetic, popular presenter who connects with teachers and communicates effectively with her audience.  

Quick Takes 
California "Green Ribbon" Nominees

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has nominated two public schools, one private independent school, and a public school district to be finalists in the second year of the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon School awards program.  CAPSO extends congratulations to Prospect Sierra School (El Cerrito), an independent school affiliated with the California Association of Independent Schools (a CAPSO-member organization), as well as to each of the other nominees.  They include: Charles Evans Hughes Middle School of Long Beach, Journey School of Aliso Viejo, Redding School of the Arts, and Ventura County's Oak Park Unified School District.  A press release announcing this year's nominees can be viewed, here.

The nominated schools were selected on the basis of rigorous evaluations of applications designed to elicit information about how schools meet criteria associated with three Green Ribbon School "Pillars": Pillar I: Reduce environmental impact and costs; Pillar II: Improve the health and wellness of schools, students, and staff; and Pillar III: Provide effective environmental and sustainability literacy, incorporating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM), civic skills, and green career pathways.

It is anticipated that 39 states, the District of Columbia, and the Bureau of Indian Education will participate in this year's program.  CAPSO oversees the private school component of California's participation in the Green Ribbon Schools program, in association with the California Department of Education.  Once again, CAPSO offers its thanks to Dr. Paul Chapman for his key coordinating role, as well as to the team of judges who worked together with him.


Secretary Duncan Speaks with Private School Leaders on Safety

On February 12, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan convened a conference call with national private school leaders to discuss the school-related components of President Obama's Now is the Time plan to protect children and communities through the reduction of gun violence.  The education-related elements of the plan, for which the Administration has requested $385 million (but which has yet to be funded) were described as falling into one of four "buckets":
  1. Ensuring that every school has a comprehensive emergency management plan;
  2. Creating a safe and positive climate at schools across the country;
  3. Making sure students and young adults get treatment for mental health issues, and,
  4. Ensuring that schools are safe.   
When asked whether the programs would contain provisions for the equitable participation of private school students, David Esquith, Director of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students explained that a portion of the funding in question would likely be appropriated through Title IV, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act ("Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities").  Title IV, Part A programs are subject to the private school equitability requirements established in Section 9501 of ESEA.

Mr. Esquith invited private schools to examine and utilize an array of school and campus emergency management resources organized by the USDE, here.

The participation of private school leaders in the 30-minute conference call with the Secretary of Education was coordinated by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). 


Proposed Local Control Funding Formula Figures Released

The California Department of Finance has released figures showing how each of the state's school districts would fare should Governor Jerry Brown's Local Control Funding Formula be adopted.  The plan, described by EdSource, here, would provide each public school district with a base amount of funding, with additional funds pegged to the number of low-income students and English learners in a given district.  To enable the flexibility necessary to make the plan work, the Governor proposes to eliminate 44 "categorical programs," described by EdSource as "funding streams targeted as specific programs such as teacher training, school safety and class size reduction."  Only a handful of such programs would remain intact - special education, and school nutrition programs being two.

The average base grant received by districts, should the plan be adopted, is estimated at $6,800, when fully funded.  Beyond the base grant, districts would receive an additional $2,385 for each disadvantaged student.  Districts in which a majority of students are classified as "high need" would receive additional funds whose per-pupil value will be determined by the overall percentage of such students in the district.

Here are the per-pupil funding amounts projected to be received by several school districts when the plan becomes fully funded (in seven years):

Beverly Hills Unified      $  8,523
Capistrano Unified        $  8,964
Elk Grove Unified          $  9,883
Fresno Unified              $11,635
Long Beach Unified       $11,057
Los Angeles Unified      $11,993
Mt. Diablo Unified         $  9,472
Oakland Unified            $10,951
Sacramento Unified       $10,939
San Bernardino Unified  $12,292
San Diego Unified         $11,039
San Francisco Unified   $11,171
San Jose Unified          $10,126
Santa Ana Unified         $11,803

The 80-page document containing the projected district-by-district funding figures can be viewed, here.


The Challenge of Charters: Two Worthwhile Articles

There can be no doubt that the proliferation of charter schools poses a substantial challenge to private schools, both independent and faith-based.  In an earlier stage of development, charter schools approximated some key features long recognized as hallmarks of private, K-12 education: smaller class sizes, local control, curricular and instructional flexibility, and often, focus on a distinctive mission, or set of values.  Having obtained the benefit of experience and achieved a greater degree of sophistication, the similarities often run both wider and deeper.

Two recent articles drive the point home.  The first comes by way of a witty blog piece penned by former private school teacher and charter school consultant Folwell Dunbar.  Titled, "Memo to charters: Steal, pirate, plagiarize the private school playbook," the article offers up what amounts to a recipe of attributes that charter schools have already...er, appropriated from private schools, or, in the view of the author, would do well to adopt.  The second article, written by the always thoughtful president of the National Association of Independent Schools, Pat Bassett, provides greater specificity.  Titled, simply, "On Charters," Mr. Bassett lists a series of brief descriptive statements appearing on the web profile of the charter school attended by one of his grandchildren, and shows how each "reads like an independent school's bullet points." 
 
Brief though they are, these are sobering, thought-provoking, and important articles that private school leaders would do well to read and consider.
If This Doesn't Make You Angry...
If reading this column doesn't make you angry, I don't know what will.  Please note that it is not my nature to provoke anger or upset.  When I pen my articles I aim to inform and, when appropriate, to entertain.  I much prefer to make people laugh (hopefully, with me).  When possible, I attempt to provide a spoonful of sugar to take the bitter edge off the political bile I have all too frequent occasion to report.  Be that as it may, some stories simply cannot be sugar coated, and this is one of them.

You may recall that last year Governor Jerry Brown proposed a budget that endeavored to address a looming $16 billion deficit.  Included among a list of expenditures slated for elimination was the provision of $10.4 million dollars in state child nutrition supplements for children served by private entities.  The state supplement added about 16 cents per meal received by children qualifying for participation in the federal government's School Breakfast Program, and National School Lunch Program.  The vast majority of the state funds assisted preschool-aged children in child care centers.  Of the $10.4 million slated for elimination, a mere $372,895 - less than 4 percent of the total - supported the provision of nutritious meals for children from low-income families enrolled in private K-12 schools.  In state budget discussions, $372,895 amounts to little more than a rounding error.  (Actually, that's an exaggeration.  The proportionate amount is too small to account for a rounding error. When addressing a $16 billion "problem," $372,895 doesn't amount to one-tenth-of-one percent.  Or one-hundredth-of-one-percent.  In fact, the amount comprises about two-one-thousands-of-one-percent, or 0.000023.)

In light of the Governor's proposed action, CAPSO invited key legislative leaders to consider the following facts: 

1)  Of all the children to be affected by the proposed elimination of the state child nutrition supplemental funds, children attending private schools are uniquely able to take unilateral action to restore the benefit by simply transferring to a public school. 

2)  For a child who receives a daily state supplemental subsidy for both breakfast and lunch, the elimination of funding would save the state approximately $56, per annum
 
3)  If a child should transfer from a private to a public school in order to continue to receive two nutritious meals, it will cost the state $56 + $7,600 (the average amount of money spent by the state to educate a child in a public school).

4)  If as few as 50 subsidy-receiving private school students - a number comprising less than one percent of all such students - were to transfer to public schools in order to retain their subsidized meals, the elimination of the state supplement would become revenue negative to the state.

Happily, the Legislature acknowledged the reasonableness of our argument and reinstated funding in the budget bill it passed and sent to the governor for signature.  But, alas, Governor Brown line-vetoed the amount out of the budget he signed into law, even though his Program Budget Manager for Education had been provided with the same information as the legislative leaders.
 
That's enough to make one angry, but it's nothing new, and it is mentioned only as necessary background information for what comes next.  (At this point, you might want to be sure you've taken your anti-hypertension medication.)  Ready? Then read on...

Earlier this month, the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes released a report that opens with the following stark finding:

"Squeezed by years of unrelenting budget cuts, some California school districts are illegally dipping into student meal funds, misappropriating millions of dollars intended to feed California's poorest children."
 
The report continues:
 
"In recent years, in cases that seldom receive any public attention, the California Department of Education (CDE) has ordered eight districts to repay nearly $170 million to student meal programs. Perhaps more troubling, department officials candidly acknowledge they have no idea how big the problem may be and fear they may have uncovered only a hint of the ongoing abuse."

The report, titled, "Food Fight: small teams of state examiners no match for schools that divert student meal funds," can be accessed, here.
 
According to a Los Angeles Times article, "In most cases, school systems attempted to use cafeteria funds to pay for personnel, utilities and other expenses."  Commenting on the misappropriation of funds, California Department of Education Chief Deputy Superintendent Richard Zeiger said of the violators: "They are literally taking food out of the mouths of kids."  One wonders whether Mr. Zeiger includes Governor Brown among the "they?" 
 
The $372,895 taken out of the mouths of needy private school kids by Governor Brown amounts to one-half-of-one-percent of the $170 million in misappropriated state child nutrition funds ordered repaid.  And that may simply be the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  Now that Proposition 30 has provided billions in new revenue to the state, the Legislature should do the right thing and restore the supplement for children enrolled in private schools. 

Ron Reynolds    
Publication Note


The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published March 20, 2013.