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Private Schools Prevail in CIF "Re-leaguing" Case
 Every few years, public and private high schools that engage in competitive athletics under the auspices of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) undergo a "re-leaguing" process that determines who plays against whom. As plans were forged for the cycle spanning the years 2014-2018, certain leagues decided they'd prefer to see four private high schools play elsewhere. The schools, Damien High School (La Verne), Oaks Christian School (Westlake Village), Saint Bonaventure High School (Ventura), and the all-girls St. Lucy's Priory High (Glendora) enjoy reputations for fielding consistently strong teams in one or more competitive sports. By way of response, other schools mounted an effort to place the four private schools in a "Parochial Area."
The schools filed an appeal with the CIF Southern Section, one of ten regional jurisdictional units, each with its own constitution, bylaws, officers, policies and rules. Arguing that the proposed "re-leaguing" decisions would inflict serious hardship by dint of forcing students in all competitive sports to endure many additional hours of transportation, the private schools sought relief from a sectional appeals panel, and lost. The schools then made a final appeal to Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigard, which was also denied. Their options for redress within the CIF framework having been exhausted, the schools filed three coordinated lawsuits (Damien and St. Lucy's joining in a common action) with the U.S. District Court, alleging religious discrimination and a lack of administrative due process.
Under the proposed re-leaguing arrangement, Saint Bonaventure's students would have been subjected to a nightmarish travel schedule. For all sports other than football, the school was slated to have competed against schools assigned to the Camino Del Rey Association, meaning that at the conclusion of a school day, students wishing to play on the volleyball and basketball teams would have to travel from Ventura to schools situated in such far-flung communities as La Verne, Montebello and La Puente. Such a trip entails a journey of ninety miles in each direction. Google Maps estimates one-way driving time at 1 hour 38 in ideal conditions. If the actual competition takes 90 minutes, and driving time requires four hours, the student-athletes would return to the Saint Bonaventure campus at 8:30 p.m. With any luck, they'd be home, out of the shower and ready for dinner at 9:00 p.m. Which means that by 9:20 p.m. they'd be eager to crack open the books and dig into their homework! Faced with such circumstances, students would be hard pressed to commit to both academics and athletics, and schools would not only be saddled with considerable additional expense, but would face the very real prospect of enrollment attrition. While commute times for the other three schools would have been of lesser durations, all feared similar deleterious effects.
Rather than rule on the case, the judge urged all parties to make a good faith effort to find a solution via mediation. When that route failed to achieve resolution of the issues, the parties agreed to binding arbitration, and retired federal judge Dickran Tevrizian was assigned to hear each side's claims. On March 4 and 5 the parties made their respective cases, and on Friday, March 7, Judge Tevrizian announced his decision: All four private high schools would remain in their original CIF areas.
The Los Angeles Times reports on the prelude to the decision, here, and its aftermath, here and here. The last link contains an embedded video clip featuring CIF Southern Section Commissioner Rob Wigod's reaction to the decision. "We all know the re-leaguing process is difficult," said Mr. Wigod, who is quoted by the Times as having added, "There's a message, and we have to accept that message." The nature of that message is unpacked in the lead sentence of high school athletics beat writer Eric Sondheimer's article: "If there's one big lesson learned from last week's arbitration victory by four private schools over the CIF Southern Section, it's that the section will no longer decide to move private schools from their sports areas for competitive equity reasons." The Southern Section has good reason to dissuade its member schools from seeking similar action in the future. According to the Times: "Wigod said the dispute cost the section $250,000 in legal fees and the price could have been $3 million if the matter had gone to trial instead of arbitration." Several attorneys representing the private schools are parents of student athletes who offered their services pro bono.
Southern Section schools impacted by the decision are now under pressure to reorganize area placements within a very short time horizon. Fortunately, they will have until 2018 to contemplate the next re-leaguing process. By then, memories of the recent dispute will have faded. If the private "powerhouse" schools continue to win at the perceived expense of public schools, another dispute may await. CAPSO enjoys a cordial and collegial relationship with the State CIF, and fills two seats on that body's Federated Council. We regard the issue as something of a family dispute, a view that was also implied by remarks made by Commissioner Wigod in the above-referenced video.
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CPSAC San Diego Workshop Reminder
 The California Private School Advisory Committee, K-12 will present a multi-day professional development workshops for private school educators. This high-quality-at-low-cost program 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 the workshop. Please click on the accompanying links for additional information about the program's content, information about the presenter, and a downloadable registration form. Examining Student Work and Providing Precise Feedback A two-day workshop for private school teachers and administrators of grades 5-12 Click here for additional information and registration form. Presenter: Kay Psencik, Ed.D. Dates: March 25 & 26 2014 Times: 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., each day Location: The Rock Academy 2277 Rosecrans St. San Diego, 92106 Registration Fee: $60.00 per person. Fee covers all three days of the program and includes materials, continental breakfast, and lunch.
About the Workshop:
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? 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. Note: The workshop will be more fun if participants bring samples of their student work to the session. BONUS - Webcast follow-up sessions! In addition to the two-day face-to-face session, Kay will also provide three 20-minute video segments that can serve as a follow-up for workshop attendees and a discussion starter for those colleagues who were unable to attend the workshop. These three segments will encourage implementation of the workshop ideas and provide extended work in the areas of: - Strategies for giving students precise feedback
- Using protocols to analyze student work
- Monitoring student progress and differentiating instruction to ensure the success of all!
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 co-authored 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. Click here for additional information and downloadable registration form. |
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Quick Takes
Senate Bill Preserves Choice in Child Care
Last week, by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 97-1, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1086, a bill that updates the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program, the nation's major law relating to the provision of child care.
Of critical importance to the private education community, the new law's language preserves the use of child care certificates - voucher-like "coupons" that can be used by parents to pay for child care services offered by providers of choice, including religious entities.
The inclusion of language protecting the issuance of certificates was promoted by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE), which fashioned and submitted model language that found its way into an amendment offered by Senator Tim Scott (R. - North Dakota) and supported by Senator Mary Landrieu (D. - Louisiana). The amendment states that nothing in the statute "shall be construed in a manner (1) to favor or promote the use of grants and contracts for the receipt of child care services...over the use of child care certificates; or (2) to disfavor or discourage the use of such certificates for the purchase of child care services, including those services provided by private or nonprofit entities, such as faith-based providers."
The preservation of certificates in the CCDBG program may help to strengthen the case for the preservation of parental choice as states around the nation move toward the introduction of universal pre-
kindergarten programs.
CAPE reports the development and provides additional context, here. CAPSO is CAPE's California state affiliate.
EdSource Announces 2014 Symposium
(from EdSource)
The New Accountability:
Testing Students and Evaluating Schools
in the Age of the Common Core
Join us at the 2014 EdSource Symposium in partnership with the
California State PTA on Wednesday May 7th, 2014, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Registration and breakfast start at 8:30 a.m. Program begins at 9:00 a.m.
California's K-12 education system is undergoing unprecedented shifts to adopt Common Core standards, the new Smarter Balanced student tests, and accountability measures driven by the Local Control Funding Formula. This year's EdSource Symposium brings together several of the most highly regarded public education thought leaders in the field, along with district and school leaders including superintendents, teachers, principals and parents for a vibrant discussion about how California's public schools are implementing these momentous changes. Featured presenters include:
- Michael Fullan - Worldwide authority on education system change, Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
- David Conley - College and career readiness and student testing expert, and Director of the Center for Educational Policy Research, University of Oregon
- Linda Darling-Hammond - Charles Ducommun Professor of Education, Stanford University and Chair, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
- Carl Cohn - Member, California State Board of Education, Co-Director, Urban Leadership Program, Claremont Graduate University, and former superintendent, Long Beach Unified
For additional details and the complete conference program click here. Registration for the event is through the California State PTA website: Please note: The PTA is handling registration for this EdSource event, which is being held in conjunction with the PTA's annual convention. Questions? Email edsource@edsource.org See you at the Symposium! State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces New Online Tools for Educators
(from the California Department of Education)
Educators across California, from those who work with the state's youngest learners to those in high school classrooms, can use several free online professional development tools created by the California Department of Education (CDE), State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said today. The CDE is continuing to develop these resources as the state asks its educators to re-emphasize college and career readiness for their students. A series of Professional Learning Modules (PLMs), for example, is designed to help teachers implement the Common Core State Standards. Each of the 13 modules focuses on a single subject, such as Getting Started with the California English Language Development Standards, which provides guidance to teachers so they can provide a world-class education for English learners. The PLMs were developed in collaboration with county offices of education, the state subject-matter projects, and WestEd and are available on the Brokers of Expertise Web site at no cost. Superintendent Torlakson also unveiled a new Web-based professional development resource called the Early Childhood Educator Competencies Self-Assessment Toolkit (ECE CompSAT) to help hone the skills of early childhood teachers, aides, and directors of programs serving very young children. Early childhood educators can use the free ECE CompSAT to consider their everyday practices, examine what they can do, and what skills they should develop. The ECE CompSAT is an interactive Web site with 100 pages of information and nine hours of streaming video that viewers can use to assess their skills in multiple areas. The ECE CompSAT is based on a 2011 CDE publication found on the California Early Childhood Educator Competencies Web page. The ECE CompSAT was a project of the Governor's State Advisory Council for Early Learning and Care. This project was completed with the help of California State University-Fresno, WestEd, and the CDE's Early Education and Support Division and Technology Services Division. It was also a component of CDE's award of a federal Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grant to develop and support systems to rate and improve early learning programs so parents can make the best choices for their children. Liebert Cassidy Whitmore Webinar (from Liebert Cassidy Whitmore) The Social Media Challenge for Private Schools Date: Thursday, April 17, 2014 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Presenter: Denise K. Top Webinar Fee: Consortium Members: $55.00 Non-Members: $75.00 Today's growing and evolving social media platforms create wonderful opportunities for communities to connect and enhance their relationships and communications, but it also presents complex and challenging legal issues for schools. Students can use social media for bullying, sexting, and making negative and defamatory comments about the school, students and teachers - yet, a school's ability to discipline students for social media posts is complicated by students' free speech and privacy rights.
This webinar will assist school administrators navigate the many challenges social media poses, including when and under what circumstances a school can discipline students for their use of social media, and what policies and practices schools can adopt to effectively prevent and address social media use that negatively impacts the school community.
For additional information and a link to online registration, click here. |
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When Avoidance is the Best Course of Action
 The story is told of a Navy ship that happens upon a previously uncharted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A search party is dispatched to explore the terrain, and is shocked to be greeted by a sinewy, deeply tanned, middle-aged man. He welcomes them, and relates that he was washed up upon the sun-drenched speck of land following a shipwreck that occurred some thirty years ago, and that he has lived in complete human solitude ever since. Dumbstruck, the sailors accept his invitation to receive a guided tour of the island, and he leads them through dense, jungle-like foliage until they emerge into a clearing. There, before them, stand two impressive edifices, one slightly larger than the other.
"This is amazing," blurts one of the Navy men. "What are these buildings?" "These are synagogues," replies the survivor. "I'm Jewish." "But wait a minute," says another sailor. "Didn't you just tell us you're the only person living on the island?" "That's right," answers the survivor. "Then why in the world would you build two synagogues?" "Well," the survivor replies, pointing to the taller structure, "that's the one I belong to, and the other is the one I wouldn't be caught dead in." Of course the joke doesn't only apply to Jews. Any major religion can be readily substituted. Last long enough, grow big enough, think hard enough, and your group will invariably become embroiled in some form of internecine conflict. But the story reveals more than the inevitability of conflict. It identifies the preferred human modality for responding to the presence of conflict: avoidance. Avoidance of conflict is likely to be the default position at every level of human interaction. And it's a tricky business. Take marriage, for example. Is avoidance of conflict a good thing, or a bad thing? The answer is probably: both. Once the period of mutual idealization has given way to a sense of befuddlement over the seemingly endless collection of trivial habits employed by our spouses to drive us nuts, we either learn not to sweat the small stuff, or to suffer needless torment. Here, avoidance takes the virtuous form of tolerance and self-restraint. But there's more to relationships than small stuff, and while our idiosyncracies can be irritating, it's the big-ticket items - religious beliefs, politics, money management, lifestyle decisions, etc. - that lead to shipwrecks of a different sort. To avoid such conflicts is to chart a very rocky course. Organizations, which are collections of individuals established for the purpose of achieving one or more goals, must also learn to identify, evaluate and manage conflict if they are to function harmoniously and productively. When I became CAPSO's executive director (more than a decade ago), one of our leading officers told me: Job one will always consist of preserving the coalition. Having studied and written about organizations and conflict, both in graduate school and beyond, it was intriguing to think about what that entailed for CAPSO. We are an association. No 'til death do us part pledge is required as a condition of membership. Not only are our respective member organizations not married to one another, they can also be seen as strange bedfellows. After all, some of our members take diametrically opposite positions on some major issues. How then, does the coalition sustain itself? The answer is that our board members and member-organization contacts possess the following common understanding: The goals we share in common must be achieved in order to pursue the goals that divide us. Existence precedes essence, and the existence of our enterprise - as CAPSO's leaders well understand - is subject to the capricious vicissitudes of the political landscape. The goal of survival will displace all others if and when existence is called into question, and the raw power available to government dictates that CAPSO maintain a principal focus on the political survival of private, K-12 education. It's for that reason that we avoid meddling with one another over issues that would weaken our ability to be of mutual benefit, important as such issues may be. Our organizations may not be married, but they're in a great relationship! Ron Reynolds |
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Publication Note
The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published April 9, 2014.
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