Blistering opposition to a possible major expansion of public school choice has been registered by none other than prominent members of the public education establishment.  (Yes, you read that correctly.)  Advocates for public education have joined forces to register their collective disapproval of a potential change to federal education law that would permit Title I dollars to follow a child to a public (though not a private) school of choice. 

Title 1 is the flagship Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) program designed to close the achievement gap by directing additional resources to help students at risk of academic failure who reside in areas with high concentrations of poverty.  This year, more than $14 billion dollars have been appropriated for Title I services, an amount that dwarfs all other ESEA programs.

At issue is a provision in a draft ESEA makeover bill authored by Senator Lamar Alexander (R. - Tennessee), that would add "portability" to Title I dollars, subject to approval by states.  Portability would empower consumers of public education by placing resources in their hands and affording parents the discretion to direct those resources to schools of their choosing. Senator Alexander has pushed for even stronger portability provisions in prior years.  Now, however, the former Secretary of Education serves as Chair of the Senate's key education committee, a position that carries considerable clout.
 
Why do public school advocates oppose public school choice?  The reasons are spelled out in a January 26, 2015 letter furnished to Senator Alexander and ranking committee member Senator Patty Murray (D. - Washington), by The National Coalition for Public Education.  Here's a portion of what they had to say:

"Even though the existing bill language limits portability to public schools, we remain concerned that passage of this provision will be a stepping-stone for an expansion of vouchers for private and religious schools using either federal or state funds, which our organizations vehemently oppose. We oppose vouchers for many reasons, including that they do not improve academic achievement; threaten religious liberty by predominantly flowing to religious schools; undermine civil rights protections; and contain virtually no accountability measures.

 

"Our concern that this provision might lead to private school vouchers is bolstered by the fact that there were several failed attempts in the last Congress to turn Title I funding into a private school voucher by making the funds portable to both public and private schools. In addition, the main argument made by the supporters of portability-that the funds should follow the child-mimics that of voucher proponents. Furthermore, by dismantling the Title I funding formula, not only would public schools and students in poverty be harmed, but portability would also allow the dollars to be more easily transferred to private schools to either create a voucher or to be combined with existing state voucher programs."

 

The letter bears the names of some 55 organizations including the American Association of University Women, American Civil Liberties Union, AFL-CIO, American Federation of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, Anti-Defamation League, Children's Defense Fund, Council of the Great City Schools, NAACP, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Education Association, National Organization for Women, National Parent Teacher Association and People for the American Way.

 

Apparently, promoting school choice, even when restricted to public schools, is viewed as something akin to sunbathing without applying sun screen.  It may feel pleasurable, but could produce a deadly form of cancer.

 

The signatories of the letter can, surely, count on a receptive ear from Senator Murray, who had the following to say during an ESEA reauthorization hearing conducted on January 21, 2015:

 

"If a school is failing students year after year, parents and communities deserve to have that information and be assured the school will get the resources it needs to improve."   

 

Senator Murray's statement reflects a view that is the exact reverse of the portability concept.  With portability, parents are provided with resources to help their child escape a persistently failing school. Senator Murray's orientation uses persistent failure as an opportunity to direct additional resources to the school.  The former approach is pupil-centered.  That latter benefits schools.  And so it goes. 

 

California private school students appear less likely than their public school counterparts to be fully immunized against measles and other communicable diseases.  This, according to a recent report released by the Immunization Branch of the California Department of Public Health, which found that 86.6 percent of private school kindergarten students had completed all required immunizations compared to 90.7 percent of public school kindergartners.  The figures are derived from immunization report data submitted to local health departments and the California Department of Public Health by 1,843 private schools offering instruction in kindergarten.  The Shots for School website contains a feature that enables users to see what percentage of a school's kindergarten students are fully immunized.

The recent measles outbreak, which (as of last week) had registered 99 confirmed cases scattered across 11 counties ranging from San Diego in the south to Marin in the north, has brought state laws addressing vaccination, exemption, and exclusion from school into focus.  A compendium of California vaccination laws can be found, here.

In California, the laws governing vaccinations and exemptions are one in the same for public and private schools.  To gain unconditional admission, Section 120335(b) of the California Health and Safety Code requires a pupil to be fully immunized against each of the following communicable diseases:

  (1) Diphtheria
  (2) Haemophilus influenzae type b
  (3) Measles
  (4) Mumps
  (5) Pertussis (whooping cough)
  (6) Poliomyelitis
  (7) Rubella
  (8) Tetanus
  (9) Hepatitis B
 (10) Varicella (chickenpox)

California is one of 47 states granting a religious exemption from the requirement, and one of 18 states to grant a personal belief exemptions (PBE) which may be exercised for philosophical or personal reasons.  (All 50 states grant exemptions for medical reasons.)  The percentage of such exemptions exercised by parents who send their children to private school kindergartens is more than twice that of their public school counterparts (5.33 compared to 2.31 percent).

In 2014, a new law took effect that required parents and guardians wishing to exercise the PBE to furnish schools with a document signed by an appropriate health care practitioner, indicating that the parent(s) had been provided with "information regarding the benefits and risks of the immunization and the health risks of the communicable diseases...to the person and to the community."  The document is to be furnished no more than six months prior to the date upon which a child first becomes subject to the immunization requirement for which an exemption is being sought.   

 

Two California lawmakers, State Senators Richard Pan (D. - Sacramento) and Ben Allen (D - Redondo Beach) have announced their intention to introduce legislation that will eliminate the personal belief exemption. "We shouldn't wait for more children to sicken or die before we act," said Senator Pan, himself a pediatrician.  The San Jose Mercury News reports the development, here.  Apparently, the two anticipated principal co-authors have come under pressure to extend the bill's provisions to eliminate the religious tenets exemption, as well. (At the time the E-Mailer "went to press" the bill had yet to be introduced.) 

 

Unless and until the current laws are changed, CAPSO advises its member-organization schools to discuss the manner in which immunization requirements and conditional admission should be addressed in enrollment contracts and school handbooks, with their respective attorneys.   

 

While it is understandable that such questions come to the fore during a communicable disease outbreak, policies should be in place to ensure compliance with the law.  Every student should have either a record of immunizations kept in a secure file, or should have furnished the school with appropriate exemption documentation.

 

And what about the non-immunized students?  The first thing administrators should keep in mind is that knowing that a student's parents have exercised the exemption is private information which is not to be shared with other students and parents, school board members, or even with most of the faculty.  Schools may educate students and parents about immunizations, but prospective students or parents should not be asked about an exemption, and neither applicants for admission or currently enrolled students should be rejected on the basis of an exemption.

  

Are there circumstances under which non-vaccinated pupils should be excluded from school?  Yes, but CAPSO suggests that the decision to exclude such pupils best be left to appropriate local health officials.  Here's why:  California regulations state that whenever the governing authority of a school "has good cause to believe that a pupil who is not completely immunized against a particular communicable disease may have been exposed to that disease, that information shall be reported by the governing authority immediately by telephone to the local health officer." If a school were to exclude a student without notifying the local County Department of Public Health, a parent could assert that the school must not have had "good cause."  The best policy is, therefore, to place any such decision in the hands of the medical professionals tasked with the responsibility and authority to protect individual students, the school community, and the general public.

 

Every private school should develop a partner relationship with officials at the local County Department of Public Health.  A listing of such departments can be found, here.  Cognizant that private schools are part of the greater public (see "The Measles' Silver Lining," below), county public health officials will be pleased to hear from you!

 

(See, too, the "12 Questions Regarding Student Immunizations at California Independent Schools" webinar to be presented by attorneys from the firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, described under "Quick Takes.") 

 

Each year the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice publishes a compendium billed as "The comprehensive guide to every private school choice program in America."  This year's edition of The ABCs of School Choice is available for free download in PDF format, here.  Hard copies of the publication can also be requested - also at no cost to recipients - here.

This year's edition includes rankings of existing school choice programs by participation levels, breadth of eligibility (i.e., are programs available to a relatively broad, or relatively narrow group of students?) and purchasing power.  To quantify purchasing power the authors calculated an average per-pupil funding value as a percentage of the relevant jurisdictions current per-pupil spending in public schools.  As one might imagine, there's generally an inverse relationship between purchasing power and participation level.  "Cutting the pie" into smaller pieces can serve a greater number of people, though the portion will be less satisfying.


The Alliance for School Choice recently committed a half million dollars to run a 60-second national television spot during National School Choice Week.  Titled, "Educational Choice Now," the video, which can be viewed below, features a number of celebrities advocating on behalf of an expansion of school choice opportunities.

Educational Choice Now PSA - NSCW edition (0:60)

Representing the Alliance, executive counsel Kevin P. Chavous said the national organization was proud to partner with National School Choice Week "...to share this powerful PSA with a national audience, because every child, no matter their families income, no matter their race, no matter their ZIP code deserves a quality education, no matter what."  The markets receiving the heaviest concentration of coverage, provided via cable networks and local broadcast stations were Raleigh, Nashville, Tallahassee, Columbus, Columbia, Montgomery, Madison, Reno, and Washington DC.

Naturally, the prospects for and durability of school choice programs rest, to no small extent, upon the availability of great schools.  To help increase public awareness of the existence of high quality schools serving beneficiaries of existing school choice programs, the American Federation for Children has created a new video series titled, fittingly enough, "Great Choice Schools."  The series' current video highlights St. Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee, WI.  Check out the high quality three-minute feature, below.

Great Choice Schools: St Marcus Lutheran

The University of North Georgia will host the fifth summer language academy for high school rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors in June and July 2015.  The Federal Service Language Academy (FSLA) is a three-week residential program for students who are interested in an immersive intensive language experience, fitness, and exploring international-related careers with the federal government.  Last year 130 students from over 32 US states and three foreign countries successfully completed the FSLA. 

During the two three-week sessions, students will be immersed in intensive language instruction in First-Year Arabic, Chinese, Russian, German, Korean, Portuguese or Second-Year Arabic, Chinese, Russian, German, Korean, and Portuguese from highly qualified teachers, participate in a daily fitness program, receive career counseling from federal agency representatives (possible agencies include the CIA, DEA, FBI, State Department, Homeland Security, the Peace Corps and US Armed Forces), and possibly receive high school credit for successful completion of the academy. 

 

Additional information is available at the FSLA website, here.

 

When: Thursday, April 30, 2015. 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Registration and breakfast start at 8:00 a.m.; program begins at 9:00 a.m.

Who: Leading education policy experts and thinkers, parents, teachers, school leaders -- and you! Our keynote speaker is Pedro Noguera, a powerful voice working to close disparities in public education.

Where: Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento CA 

 

Why: Will recent reforms in education, from Common Core to Local Control, succeed in raising achievement for the most at-risk students? The symposium will identify successful strategies for serving high needs students - and what more needs to be done.

How: Click here for more details about the event. Send an email to edsource@edsource.org if you'd like us to remind you when registration begins.

There's a story told of two German Jewish gentlemen who were seated across from one another on a train during the increasingly dark period preceding the rise of the Third Reich. 

"My God!" exclaims Herr Strauss.  "Is that the Nazi newspaper you're reading?"

"Why yes," responds Herr Oppenheim, matter-of-factly.
 
"But how can you bring yourself to read such filth?" demands the dumbstruck Herr Strauss.
 
Herr Oppenheim gently puts down the paper and says: "See here, my friend.  This is the only paper I can read that gives me something to feel good about.  If I read any of the other papers, there is only news of growing anti-Semitism, restrictions, confiscations, humiliation, deprivation and suffering.  But in this paper, we own all the banks, run all the industries and have all the power!  Can you blame me for reading it?"
 
Like Herr Oppenheim, I confess to finding something to feel good about during times of foreboding.  While, tragically, there was no silver lining for those represented in the gallows-humor story of the two men on the train, I've learned that the Avian Influenza scare, feared acts of terrorism, and the current measles outbreak harken at least one good tiding for private schools.
 
Please understand that I DON'T welcome any of the above-mentioned calamities, and would much prefer to see a world free of disease, hatred and suffering.  I DON'T relish the current measles outbreak and wish it had never occurred.  I'm also well aware that the situation has caused innumerable headaches for private school leadership. 

All of the above notwithstanding, I can't say my interactions with every Department of Public Health professional with whom I've had occasion to speak over the course of the past few weeks haven't left me feeling anything other than appreciative, grateful and upbeat. (I feel the same way after speaking with various law enforcement officials at times of perceived risk.)  These dedicated and hard working people don't see society through a political lens.  They're blind to race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, national origin, gender and sexual orientation (unless, of course, any of those statuses bears relation to increased probability of contracting and transmitting a disease).  They treat us the way we'd all treat one another if only we could leave our respective baggage at the door.

State and County Departments of Public Health employees draw no distinction between public schools and private schools.  As they see it, a private school student diagnosed with measles represents a public health risk.  It matters not a whit what type of school a child attends.  What counts is the health of the child.  Every child.

There are, of course, distinctions to be drawn between public schools and private schools.  But wouldn't it be refreshing if we could all think of education in the same way we regard public health?  We'd all come to appreciate that every child at risk of educational failure is a social risk, regardless of the school he or she attends.  Similarly, we'd understand that every child who succeeds contributes to a healthier society, regardless of whether he or she attended public or private schools. 

If only foolish ideas were like diseases that conferred immunity, the silver lining would remain long after the cloud had vanished.

Ron Reynolds

The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published March 11, 2015.