FAST FACTS ABOUT PRIVATE/PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS
The National Center for Educational Statistics
estimates that out of 55.6 million children
in grades PK-12 in 2007, 6.5 million or 11.7
percent, are in private and parochial schools.
Projections of Educational Statistics to 2015,
table 1, are available at:
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/tables/table_01.asp.
Non-Public Education in the United States
The non-public education community in the U.S.
provides parents with important options for
the education of their children. At the elementary
and secondary levels, faith-based and nonsectarian
private schools, along with a growing number
of children who are home schooled, account for
approximately 12 percent of the school-age population.
http://www.ed.gov/nclb/choice/schools/onpefacts.html
CERTIFICATE RENEWAL
Many of our non-public school teachers and administrators
will need to renew certificates this summer.
The law change in 2002 saw a majority of teachers
and administrators renewing and even renewing
early in 2002. That five-year renewal
will end July 1, 2007 and many teachers and
administrators will have to renew under a new
process this summer. It is too early to
renew. However, it is the right time to
be ready with professional development hours
properly recorded so renewal will move smoothly
when the process opens. The new Educator’s
Certification System (ECS) combines OTIS and
CERTS for completing simplified certification
and renewal processes. The web address is
www.isbe.net/ECS. Educators who had
OTIS log-ins and passwords are able to use the
same login and password to access the system.
New log-ins and passwords may be created.
ECS features both professional development tracking
and certificate information and online application
and renewal processes. Teachers are encouraged
to use ECS and administrators must use ECS to
submit Statements of Assurance. Use ECS
to record professional development and submit
a Statement of Assurance.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Senate Bill 143 -- Private School Background
Checks
Legislation will be passed this session requiring
all employees of private schools, hired after
July 1, to undergo fingerprint based background
checks.
The bill was approved by the Senate and was
sent to the House for consideration.
Some good news is that tentative agreement as
been reached with the sponsor of the background
check bill to introduce an appropriations bill
providing some state reimbursement to nonpublic
schools for the cost of the background checks
(probably somewhere around $50 a person).
An agreement to introduce is a long way from
making state reimbursement a reality, but it
is a step in the right direction.
Tuition Tax Credit
Three bills have been introduced this year that
would expand the tuition tax credit from $500
to $1000. House Bill 198 (D- Fritchey,
Chicago & D- Kevin Joyce, Worth), House Bill
361 (R-Dan Brady, Bloomington) and Senate Bill
139 (R- Dan Cronin, Lombard) all seek this expansion.
House Bill 146: Care of Students with Diabetes
Representative Tom Cross (R-Oswego) has introduced
this bill, which among other things, would require
school administrators to develop with parents
an individualized care plan for each student
with diabetes in the school. It would
also require that three teachers be assigned
to each student with diabetes as unlicensed
diabetes care aides, at least one of whom would
be required to be with the student at all times.
These teachers would also be required to meet
certain training requirements. ICNS is
opposing this legislation as a burdensome unfunded
mandate. In fact, the requirement would
be largely impossible to meet in nonpublic schools.
Senate Bill 138: Teacher Tax Credit
Senator Dan Cronin (R-Lombard) has also introduced
a bill providing a 50% tax credit, capped at
$500, for teachers who purchase non-reimbursed
classroom supplies. This bill passed out
of the Senate Revenue Committee.
House Bill 895: Green-Cleaning Policy
ICNS will oppose this bill that requires public
and private schools establish a "green cleaning
policy" and to only use cleaning supplies approved
by a newly established Green Government Coordinating
Council. Our reasons for opposing it is cost,
no demonstrated reason for this, no representation
on the Green Government Coordination Council,
and another unnecessary mandate.
House Bill 1279: Automated External Defibrillators
The House Executive Committee approved a bill
that will expand the law that requires schools
to have accessible Automatic External Defibrillators
(AEDs). HB 1279 (Burke, D-Chicago) will require
school to have AEDs on site at all outdoor
athletic facilities (baseball diamonds, football
fields, soccer fields, etc.). The original law
only required the equipment near indoor facilities.
If enacted, an AED would need to be housed in
a building that is within 300 feet of the outdoor
athletic facility where "an event or activity"
is being conducted. If there is no such building,
the person responsible for supervising the activity
shall ensure that an AED is available during
the time of the event or activity. The bill
moved to the floor of the House of Representatives
for further consideration.
CURRICULUM HOTSPOTS
With the numbers of Web pages now measured in
the billions, the demand for information on
the latest and best educational resources has
never been greater, or more complicated. As
a result, most educators rely on only a few
familiar Web sites, if they aren't aware that
superior models and applications exist. District
Administration therefore presents this revised
and fully verified guide to "Curriculum
Hotspots." Featured on this
web page are the latest search tools, lesson
plan collections, research sites, sources for
online projects, media resources, curriculum
centers in every content area, and related professional
materials. Distribute the guide to your staff,
students and parents, and consider adding the
resources to your school Web site.
http://www.districtadministration.com/
SPENDING BILL KEEPS 2-4-5
ALIVE
Congress has completed action on a spending
bill for fiscal year 2007 that includes an increase
of $200 million in IDEA programs for students
with disabilities and $125 million more for
Title I grants to help low-income youngsters
improve basic skills. Both programs provide
services for students in private schools.
The continuing resolution maintains current
funding levels for three popular programs that
the private school community fought to protect:
Title II-D (Education Technology), Title IV-A
(Safe and Drug-Free Schools), and Title V-A
(Innovative Programs). CAPE’s “Keep 2-4-5 Alive”
campaign urged Congress to retain the programs
and increase their funding. The level funding,
in light of the fact that all three programs
had been earmarked for cuts in one or more of
the spending plans that surfaced last year,
was a welcome development and sets the stage
for possible increases in the coming fiscal
year.
Most federal education programs, including IDEA
and Titles I, II, IV, and V, are forward funded,
meaning the funds provided in the FY 2007 appropriation
will not affect schools until the 2007-08 school
year.
Detailed information on FY 2007 funding levels
for programs affecting students in private schools
is available
here
FAST FACTS
A questionnaire posed to 10,000 superintendents
who subscribe to SRA/McGraw-Hill's national
e-newsletter indicates that 71% of superintendents
feel their schools have adequate security measures
in place, whereas 29% do not.
www.sraonline.com
A recent national Harris Poll of more than 600
parents and 1,100 students concludes that 65%
of youth ages 8 to 18 and 77% of parents say
it is "extremely likely" or "very likely" that
an intruder could enter their schools.
www.harrisinteractive.com
The nation would save more than $17 billion
in lifetime health costs if every student expected
to drop out of high school this year were to
earn a diploma instead, says the Alliance for
Excellent Education (Healthier and Wealthier).
www.all4ed.org
CLARIFICATION OF THE PHYSICAL FITNESS FACILITY
MEDICAL EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ACT
The Illinois Department of Public Health has
released a memorandum that addresses important
issues pertaining to the Physical Fitness Facility
Medical Emergency Preparedness Act (210 ILCS
74), also known as the Colleen O’Sullivan Law.
The law and related rules mandate the use of
Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in
certain settings. Although the law was enacted
January 1, 2005, the volume of questions and
concerns prompted the Illinois Department of
Public Health to release this memorandum in
hopes of clarifying the issue. The memorandum
can be accessed on the Division of ROE Services
website by clicking here.
http://www.isbe.net/regionaloffices/pdf/AED_law.pdf
THE FEDS ARE HERE TO HELP YOU -- WITH FREE STUFF!
You may want to check out the U.S. Department
of Education's FREE website, which serves as
a repository of school-related resources from
agencies across the spectrum of federal government.
FREE stands for "Federal Resources for Educational
Excellence" and has been around since 1998,
but has always needed a better organizational
structure and search engine. The new design,
launched in December, has improved navigation
and images throughout the site. Click on the
link for the new subject map (upper left corner)
and you'll find a list of more than 100 topics
and the number of resources for each. Example:
U.S. History/Famous People/Inventors (36). There's
an RSS feed so savvy web-surfers can receive
updated information without revisiting the site.
Subjects covered include social studies, US
and world history, science, math, health and
physical education, arts and music and language
arts. Well worth investigating!
http://free.ed.gov/
EDUCATION IN THE NEWS
-
WITH FEWER NUNS & MORE COMPETITION, CAN
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS BE SAVED? - A report in
the new issue of Education Next finds enrollment
declines and rising tuition costs in Catholic
schools in the United States despite their
history of strong educational achievement.
The rising cost of providing a Catholic
education has been affected by the loss
of nuns in the classroom, where for years
they provided high value at relatively low
cost. The ranks of nuns and other minimum-wage
religious teachers in Catholic schools have
declined by 62 percent in the last five
decades. Staff composition has shifted from
being some 90 percent female and religious
to less than 5 percent; laypeople now make
up more than 95 percent of all Catholic
school employees. With these changes have
come cost increases: Average annual tuition
has gone from next to nothing to more than
$2,400 in elementary schools and almost
$6,000 in high schools. Although still a
bargain by private school standards, Catholic
schools must compete with "free," public
charter schools. Demographic shifts have
also hurt Catholic schools. As working-
and middle-class Americans left inner cities
for the suburbs, immigrants from Catholic
nations in Latin America and the Caribbean
took their place in the downtown churches,
but the new groups are largely poor and
lack a tradition of Catholic school support.
The United States is still the only country
with a formal system of independent Catholic
schools. Faced with a new educational landscape,
many Catholic schools are trying innovative
tactics to deal with the challenges.
http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext
-
ARE MORE FAMILIES CHOOSING HOME SCHOOLING
OVER PRIVATE SCHOOLS? - Over the last decade
and a half, the number of home schooled
students has grown dramatically. An estimated
1.1 million students are now home schooled
each year. Previous research suggests the
family values and local school quality influence
student enrollment decisions. However, it
is less clear why some families may choose
home schooling over other private schooling
options. A new paper by Eric J. Isenberg
for the National Center for the Study of
Privatization in Education uses data from
the National Household Education Survey
and secondary data sources to examine preferences
for home schooling. The author finds that
families are more likely to engage in home
schooling if the mother has abundant time
but scarce income, and if the state public
school finance system is centralized, making
switching schools less efficient and private
schooling more costly. Preferences for home
schooling are especially strong among well-educated
parents with younger children. Home schooling
of older children is more sensitive to child-specific
behavioral needs.
http://www.ncspe.org/list-papers.php
"As Secretary of Education, I recognize the
contribution that nonpublic schools - private
schools and home schools - are making to educational
excellence and to the strength of our society.
The President and I support providing families
with increased educational choices, and the
Department is committed to ensuring that private
school students and teachers participate equitably
in Federal education programs."
-Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
CONTACT US
If you have any questions, comments or need
information related to our efforts in supporting
nonpublic schools, feel free to communicate
with us by sending an e-mail to
ICNS
