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.
Department of
Education blasted for withholding voucher results
In a recent editorial, The Wall Street Journal applauded U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan for championing mayoral control of schools, but
criticized the Department of Education (ED) for "sitting on" a report that
might have influenced Congressional debate over vouchers in D.C. This latest
performance review of the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides
$7,500 in private-school vouchers to 1,700 low-income families, shows that
children attending private schools with the aid of the scholarships are
reading nearly a half-grade ahead of their non-vouchered peers, though
results for math are equivalent. Congress voted to end the D.C. program in
March, and the favorable report was released on April 3, leading observers
to suggest that ED buried the results and cloaked them in secrecy. "It's bad
enough that Democrats are killing a program that parents love and is closing
the achievement gap between poor minorities and whites," The Journal writes,
"But as scandalous is that the Education Department almost certainly knew
the results of this evaluation for months." The editorial concludes that
"Mr. Duncan's department" colluded with Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and
teacher unions to withhold the report, and calls the ending of the program
"a moral disgrace."
Read more:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123897492702491091.html
Related:
http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_12092758
Public school kids
outpace private school peers in math, study finds
A new study by the University of Illinois has found that public-school
students outperform their private-school classmates on the National
Assessment of Educational Progress exam, thanks to certified math teachers
and a modern, reform-oriented math curriculum, Science Daily reports. To
account for the difference in test scores, Sarah Lubienski and her
co-authors looked at five critical factors: school size, class size,
parental involvement, teacher certification, and instructional practices.
"There are so many reasons why you would think that the results should be
reversed -- that private schools would outscore public schools in
standardized math test scores," she said. "This study looks at the
underlying reasons why that's not necessarily the case." Of the five
factors, school size and parental involvement were "mixed or marginally
significant predictors" of student achievement, while smaller class sizes,
which are more prevalent in private schools than in public schools,
significantly correlate with achievement. Despite this, many private schools
aren't accountable to an external body when designing curricula, and thus
may not be keeping up with trends. "There's been this assumption that
private schools are more effective because they're autonomous and don't have
all the bureaucracy that public schools have," Lubienski said. "But one
thing this study suggests is that autonomy isn't necessarily a good thing
for schools."
Read more:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226093423.htm
See the report:
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/590677
SEVERE WEATHER
Spring can be a time of severe weather in Illinois. Has your school
prepared for the possibility of damaging storms? Have you planned and
conducted tornado drills? Do your students know where to go in the event of
a dangerous storm? Click here for Severe Weather Preparedness: 2009
Illinois Severe Weather Fact Sheet.
http://www.state.il.us/iema/disaster/pdf/severeweatherpreparedness.pdf
ILLINOIS LEGISLATIVE NEWS
Governor Quinn submitted his proposed Fiscal Year 2010 state budget on March
18th. The proposed budget includes increases to personal and corporate
income tax rates as well as significant spending cuts. While his proposed
budget is only the beginning of the process, there is cause for concern as
it relates to the nonpublic school education agenda. The Governor has
recommended that funding for the Parent/Guardian Transportation
Reimbursement program be reduced to zero. If enacted, this proposal would
harm parents of public and nonpublic school children to whom free busing is
not provided. At the very least, the tax dollars sent by parents of
nonpublic schools to the state and local governments should ensure
assistance transporting children to school – a valued concept reflected in
provisions of state statute that require public schools to offer private
school students busing at least on their routes.
Senate Bill 138 & House Bill 643 (Expanding the Tuition Tax Credit from
$500 to $1000)
Due to the state’s budget situation, ICNS has been unable to push these
bills forward in the committee process. However, co-sponsors have been added
with 11 members in the House and 8 members in the Senate. ICNS will use
these bills as topics of conversation with the leadership in the General
Assembly and with the Governor’s office.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Federal Stimulus Package) --
On February 19, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). You probably know this piece of
legislation as the “stimulus package” – the largest appropriations measure
in the history of the nation.
ARRA contains nearly $100 billion in funding, over two and a half years, for
programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education, including a
number of programs that require the equitable participation of nonpublic
school students and teachers. Such as: $10 billion in formula grants for
Title I, Part A of the ESEA; $11.7 billion in grants for Part B of the IDEA;
and $650 million for Title II, Part D of ESEA. Funds allocated for Title I,
Part A of ESEA and Part B of IDEA will be released in two stages to States,
with half being released by the end of March (received by school districts
probably in late April), and the remaining released between July 1 and
September 30, 2009, which is conditioned on States providing additional
information. Funds for Title II, Part D of ESEA will be available in fall of
2009.
Those are national numbers. For Illinois, the ARRA could provide nearly $3
billion in education funding over two and a half years. Preliminary numbers
show the stimulus package will provide nearly $1 billion in additional
funding for several existing operations and programs, including Title I
grants for low-income populations and IDEA services.
The US Department of Education (ED) has posted some preliminary numbers for
Illinois on its Web site. The numbers pertinent to nonpublic schools are as
follows:
If your school receives
Title I, Title II or IDEA services from your local school district, you must
contact them now, tell them you know some of the extra money will be
arriving soon and that your students are still entitled to equitable
participation in services funded by that federal money. It will take some
consultation with the local school district, but be sure your students
receive their lawfully entitled services. The Title II money will most
likely not be to the school district until next school year, but school
districts will probably start to receive Title I and IDEA funds near the end
of April.
Illinois is eligible to apply for a little over $2 billion from the State
Fiscal Stabilization Fund. In the Governor’s proposed budget some of this
money will be used to fill budget holes in areas other than education but
some may eventually end up in Title programs or IDEA services. In all, the
total sum of funds available for education funding in Illinois from ARRA
will be $3,026,627,751.
((Information provided by Zach Wichmann Associate Director for Education,
Catholic Conference of Illinois)
SCHOOL SAFETY BLOCK GRANT
No doubt you noticed the first payment from the block grant – originally
slated for late October – did not arrive to your schools until early to
mid-January. The state’s poor fiscal condition has caused delays in most of
the state’s spending. Unfortunately, the second half of this year’s payment
will probably also be delayed – from mid-April perhaps until June. If you
think your school has not received any money, please be sure to check your
federal hot lunch and/or milk accounts. The state will deposit the money
there because it is already set up as an electronic funds transfer (EFT)
account. The reimbursement rate this year is $36.01 per pupil, and you can
look up your schools reimbursement amount in the chart found here: http://www.isbe.net/funding/pdf/ADABlockGrantFY09.pdf
NONPUBLIC REGISTRATION, ENROLLMENT, AND STAFF REPORT
This form, which serves as your school’s registration with the state, is
currently available on IWAS. It must be submitted by June 30, 2009. The
submission of this form is necessary to pursue state recognition and the
data provided also affects many state and federal programs, such as
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reimbursements.
The April 2009 issue of CAPE Outlook, a monthly newsletter from the Council for American Private Education, is available for download as a free PDF document by clicking here or by entering the following URL in your browser: http://www.capenet.org/pdf/Outlook344.pdf
In Outlook this month: