Being a member of the Illinois Coalition of Nonpublic Schools entitles you to receive this issue of the Electronic Report. The purpose of this Report is to provide brief synopses of developments with the Illinois Coalition of Non-Public Schools, legislative updates, and information of interest to our nonpublic school administrators. Additional information may be obtained by following the hyperlinks that are imbedded throughout the Report. For schools who have not paid their dues for 2007-08, this will be the last issue of the Report that you will receive. To continue receiving these reports, complete the membership application and remit the dues payment of $50.00. Payment after April 1 will entitle you to membership through the 2008-09 school year.
ICNS SURVEY
The results are in from the ICNS on-line survey and we had a great response and some interesting results. There were 354 people who took the survey, representing about 30% of the nonpublic schools in the state. At the April 15 meeting of the ICNS Board, the survey responses were discussed. Thanks to the school administrators who took the time to provide us feedback about the work of ICNS
PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND CHARTER
SCHOOLS--COMPLEMENTARY OR COMPETITIVE?
In two recently published studies, two different conclusions were drawn regarding the impact of charter schools on private school enrollments. In Michigan, the advent of charter schools has substantially undercut private schools. 17 percent of students who enrolled in Michigan's charter schools had previously attended a private school. The Council on American Private Education reports that "with private schools accounting for slightly more than 8 percent of the state's students, the consequences...were especially heavy." The Michigan study maintains that "private schools will lose one for every three students gained in the charter schools."
In Arizona, however, the
relationship between charter and private schools is happier. Matthew Ladner
of the Goldwater Institute claims that "the Catholic school system has done
well despite the proliferation of charter schools." Catholic school
enrollments in Arizona are up even though charter school enrollments are
12.5% higher than in Michigan.
The reasons for the difference? The states' economies and demographics
certainly play a role. Arizona, however, has a tax credit program for
contributions to private school scholarship funds, providing financial
support to schools and families. The evidence suggests that school choice
laws that favor private schools actually result in more successful options
for parents in both the public and private sector.
www.ncspe.org/publications_files/OP128.pdf
www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/ArticleView.aspx?id.1880
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS (NCES) RELEASES TWO NEW REPORTS
New Private School Universe Survey
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has released, Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2005-2006 Private School Universe Survey.. The survey is conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, and is designed to generate biennial data on the total number of private schools, students, and teachers, in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Selected Findings
· In the fall of 2005, there were 28,996 private elementary and secondary schools with 5,057,520 students in the United States.
· The average school size in 2005-06 had 174 students across all private schools with elementary schools averaging 152 students and secondary schools averaging 294 students.
· More than three quarters (76.1 percent) of private schools have a religious orientation.
· 1,821 private schools report having a special emphasis on providing instruction using Montessori teaching methods.
· Almost five percent of all private schools in 2005-06 were single gender schools.
· Ninety-eight percent (98.3) of 12th graders enrolled in private schools around October 1, 2004 graduated in the 2004-05 school year.
The full PSS report is located on the NCES website at: Private School Universe Survey.
New Digest of Education Statistics, 2007
Selected Findings Related to the Private School Community
· Private school enrollment grew more slowly than public school enrollment from 1985 to 2007, rising 11 percent, from 5.6 million to 6.2 million. As a result, the percentage of students enrolled in private schools declined from 12.4 percent in 1985 to 11.0 percent in 2007.
· The number of full-time equivalent private school teachers in 2007 was estimated at 0.5 million and 76 percent of private school teachers were female.
· 68.7 percent of private elementary and secondary school students in 2003 had parents who volunteered at school.
The full report is located on the NCES web site at: Digest of Education Statistics, 2007.
ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
With a nearly $1 billion hole in an election year state budget, most new and/or controversial initiatives failed to move out of committee. There are of course exceptions, but we can at least be satisfied that no legislation designed to reduce the tuition tax credit, exclude our schools from the School Safety Block Grant, or target any of the other programs that serve nonpublic schools were introduced or moved out of a committee.
Both ISBE and the Governor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2009 budgets fund programs important to nonpublic schools at last year’s levels: $75 million for the School Safety Block Grant; $42 million for the Textbook Loan Program; and $11 million for the Parent Transportation Reimbursement Program. We would, of course, like to see the Parent Transportation Reimbursement appropriation increased (it was last year but vetoed by the Governor), and later in the session, when the budget bills begin to move, we will work to that end.
Bills of interest to our schools include:
HB 5717 clarifies that any child who received a health examination before entering the fifth grade for the 2007-2008 school year is not required to receive an additional health examination before entering 6th grade in the 2008-2009 school year. Approved by the House and sent to the Senate.
HB 1058 opens the Department of Public Health’s matching grant Heartsaver AED Fund to nonpublic as well as public schools. This money can be used to purchase and maintain Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).
Our recognized nonpublic schools should have been informed that ISBE must have an IRS W-9 form on file in order for you to receive your school safety block grant money. Without the W-9, your school will not receive any money. In addition, the letter from ISBE included an authorization for electronic funds transfer (EFT) so your school can receive the money electronically. If you are a recognized school and you complied with the requirement of completing the enrollment data but did not receive the letter you can assume ISBE already has your W-9 on file. If ISBE does not have your W-9 they continue to initiate contact. You need to respond if contacted.
EDUCATION IN THE NEWS
A recent court decision in
California has declared that credentialed instructors must conduct home
schooling. The 2nd District Court of Appeal has agreed to rehear the case in
June, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to support new legislation
allowing home schooling if the decision is not reversed. Meanwhile, the
ruling has forged a rare alliance of religious and secular home schoolers.
Religious families remain a significant bloc, but other motives have grown
increasingly visible. The state's estimated 166,000 home schoolers include
students from affluent suburban families who can live on one income,
children who hope to hone an athletic talent or artistic passion and those
who shun traditional education for a more child-centric approach.
School and Neighborhood Safety
There is a web site that can help you, as a school administrator, to be more
knowledgeable about safety concerns. This site allows you to enter your
address and a map will pop up with a small icon identifying your school.
There will be red, blue and green dots surrounding your entire
neighborhood. When you click on these dots a picture of a criminal will
appear with his or her home address and the description of the crime he or
she has committed. For schools with established bus stops, it
may be useful to check out the corners where you have children waiting for a
bus. www.FamilyWatchDog.us
SCHOOL SAFETY BLOCK GRANT
The deadline for submitting 2006-07 attendance data to take advantage of nonpublic school inclusion in the School Safety Block Grant has passed. For many, this is the culmination of a lot of hard work – or at least it will be evident when the check arrives in May. According to ISBE, 77 state recognized schools missed the deadline for reporting Average Daily Attendance for the purpose of receiving dollars allotted through the grant. That means the money they would have received will be included in the pot for all the schools eligible to receive support.
Remember, the attendance data for this school year, will have to be submitted after the year’s completion but before July 1. Hopefully, schools have adjusted to keep attendance data in the correct format, so that data can be submitted in a timely fashion.