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April 22:
June 21-22:
Statewide Private Schools Conference
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The WFIS eMemo is a publication of
Washington Federation of Independent Schools
P. O. Box 449
DuPont, WA 98327
253.912.WFIS(9347)
Judy Jennings
Executive Director
Jan L. Morrison
Assistant to the Director
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The Washington Federation of Independent Schools (WFIS) is the umbrella organization for private education in Washington State. With seventy percent of the independent student population enrolled in member schools, WFIS is the only statewide vehicle for regular communication and strategic development between the many different constituencies. WFIS schools are affiliates of the Catholic dioceses in the state; the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI); the Christian Schools International (CSI); Lutheran Schools; Montessori schools; the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS); the Seventh-day Adventist Schools (SDA); and numerous other religious and independent institutions, including the Waldorf Schools, Hutterian Brethren, and those institutions with sponsorship within the Jewish and Islamic communities. The WFIS Board of Directors consists of eighteen school heads representing the major constituencies chosen regionally by their respective bodies. WFIS is networked with similar organizations in other states through the Council for American Private Education (CAPE).
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2010 Legislative Wrap-Up Judy Jennings
While the state legislature continues to battle over the final budget, all of the other proposed legislation that would have an effect on private education in our state has been decided. We at WFIS want to thank all of our schools, their administrators, faculty, and parents for your participation in our advocacy efforts in Olympia this year. Because of those phone calls, e-mails, letters and personal contacts, we were able to both defend and defeat legislation detrimental to our schools.
HB 2996, SB 6992: We were also able to pass the FBI Fingerprint Bill into law. The bill was signed by Governor Gregoire on March 17, 2010. WFIS and other private school advocacy groups have been working on this bill for many years. This law will allow approved private schools to have access to OSPI's record checks, using the same rules and procedures that are used for public school districts, educational service districts and tribal schools. Procedures will be in place by September 1, 2010. Private school administrators will be able to get the information prior to the implementation of the new procedures, however.
E2SSB 6696: Education Reform "Race to the Top" Law. While this bill primarily deals with accountability in public school educational reform, there are some positive components of this new legislation that will affect certificated teachers in private schools as well. The bill ...
... expands the alternative certification preparation program for teachers and principals to include online programs offered by the local ESDs.
... requires teacher preparation programs to administer a new evidence-based assessment to all pre-service candidates beginning in 2011-12.
HB 1329: Our major concern for this session was the reintroduction of this bill that would seek to unionize private pre-school and daycare workers under the Service Employees international Union (SEIU). While we do support a person's voluntary choice to participate in a union, we do not believe it should be a matter of coercion. This bill was finally halted in the Senate Ways and Means Committee after testimony at every level of legislative advocacy in both Houses. Because of your input and testimonies, as well as working with other interested groups, we were able to soundly defeat this intrusion into our schools.
HB 2731 was our other legislative focus. While this bill was signed into law, a portion which we were able to have removed would have made pre-school programs part of the definition of Basic Education in our state. Because of the construct of the Washington State Constitution, and an opinion written by the Attorney General in December 2009, this provision would have automatically excluded faith-based programs from receiving any subsidy for low income children simply because the program had a religious component. Private secular programs, on the other hand, would have been able to continue to receive the subsidy, constituting religious discrimination. Other portions of the bill establish a phased-in voluntary program of early learning for three and four year-olds who are educationally at risk, beginning with the 2011-12 school year. The program must be a comprehensive program providing early childhood education and family support, options for parental involvement, health information, screening and referral services. The Department of Early Learning is tasked with adopting rules for the program components.
HB 2867: Promoting Early Learning. This makes legislative findings relating to the connection between early childhood development and children's social and academic functioning and success in school and beyond; it addresses the current shortage of high-quality programs for children (birth to 3 years of age) and their parents and caregivers. It adds to the primary duties of the DEL the responsibility to develop a comprehensive birth-to-three plan to provide education and support through a continuum of options. Another portion directs the DEL to develop a birth-to-three plan, including recommended appropriation levels, and report to the Legislature by December 1, 2010.
Although this was a short legislative session, WFIS was extremely busy and productive in our advocacy efforts. We extend our thanks, again, to those who worked with us to further the quality and independence of our state's private schools.
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Private Schools Summer Conference, June 21-22, 2010
OSPI's first ever private schools conference will be held at Seattle Pacific University's Center for Professional Education and Gonzaga University's School of Education. The conference is complimentary to all educators employed by private schools approved by the State Board of Education.
The two day conference, Improving Academic Achievement for All Students Through Assessment andDifferentiated Instruction, is funded through the federal ESEA Title II, Part A Teacher and Principal Quality program. The intent of the conference is to provide private school educators with equitable participation services in state-level activities designed to improve teacher and principal quality, and is in addition to the services provided to private school educators through their local school districts.
Conference Schedule and Content Information
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Date/Time |
SeattlePacificUniversity |
GonzagaUniversity | |
June 21, 2010
8:00 am - 4:00 pm |
Topic: Assessment
Speaker: Tammy Hefflebower, Marzano Research Laboratory/Solution Tree |
Topic: Differentiated Instruction
Speaker: Laurie Robinson, Solution Tree | |
June 22, 2010
8:00 am - 4:00 pm |
Topic: Differentiated Instruction
Speaker: Laurie Robinson, Solution Tree |
Topic: Assessment
Speaker: Tammy Hefflebower, Marzano Research Laboratory/Solution Tree |
Registration Process
Registration is available online through OSPI's Events Manager at: https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us/EventsManager/Public/Calendar.aspx. Please register by June 1, 2010.
Should you have any questions, please contact your Private School Advisory Committee (PSAC) representative or Deborah Parriott, Program Supervisor, Title II, Part A at (360) 725-6340 or email deborah.parriott@k12.wa.us. The agency TTY number is (360) 664-3631.
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CAPE Board and State Executives Meet in DC Three-Day Gathering focuses on Challenges to Private Education
Each March, State CAPE Executives meet in Washington DC to participate in a series of meetings organized by WFIS' national "parent" organization, the COUNCIL FOR AMERICAN PRIVATE EDUCATION. There are typically five meetings:
~ A Sunday meeting of State Cape executives. There are 32 state organizations similar to WFIS around the country and in U.S. territories.
~ A joint meeting of State Cape organization executives and the national CAPE Executive Board. Members include all of the CEOs of all of the national associations.
~ A set of briefings given by officials from the U.S. Department of Education
~ A series of briefings provided by members of Congress and/or their staff
~ An Individual legislative advocacy
Prior to the meetings, each state CAPE executive prepares an annual report outlining successes, challenges, and other items of collective interest. The major portion of the state Cape meeting is devoted to these common items of interest and challenge. The contents of the meeting varied from sobering to encouraging. Broadly shared concerns were school sustainability and competition from charter schools.
Other news is encouraging. Maryland and New Jersey are putting forth serious school choice initiatives, while we in Washington state were able to realize a long awaited state- wide private school conference utilizing Title II-A "state activities" funds. There will be two professional development conferences; one in Spokane and the other in Seattle, at Gonzaga University and Seattle Pacific University, respectively.
At our joint meeting with the CAPE board, we heard a presentation by Dr. Mark Elgart, President and CEO of AdvancED, a nonprofit education service corporation formed in 2006 through the merger of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, and the Nation Study of School Evaluation. AdvancED promotes itself as the world's largest education community. While they provide a wide variety of consulting, professional and information services, it is most well-known for its aggressive acquisition of regional accreditation associations. (NAAS has chosen to remain an independent entity). Because accreditation is so intrinsically part of private education, CAPE has been following the developments of this organization very closely. CAPE has issued an "Issue Paper" on school accreditation which is available on the CAPE website.
The USDE briefings were provided by Jacqueline Jones, Senior Advisor to Secretary Duncan on Early Learning, Scott Pearson, Associate Assistant Deputy Secretary and Alula Asfaw, both from the Office of Innovation and Improvement, as well as staff from OII and Non-Public Education, newly named Director, Maureen Dowling and Pamela Allen.
Scott Pearson addressed the Obama Administration's plans for reauthorizing the ESEA. At the outset of his presentation, he assured the audience that the concerns and desires of the nation's private school community had been heard. He outlined those desires as:
· Maintenance of the "child benefit" priniciple
· Protection and extension of the law's equitable participation provisions
· Respect for the independence and autonomy of the private school
· Requirement for the equal expenditure of funds generated by private school students
· Requirement for state departments of education and local public school districts to set aside the equitable shares of funds "up front"
· Streamline the consultation process
He concluded his remarks by telling his audience that he cannot assure that we will get everything we have asked for, but the USDE will make a good faith effort to do so.
The USDE speakers also described the OII new Open Innovation Portal, an online interface grounded in the concept of "Crowd Sourcing". It is designed to help educators hone ideas and workable innovations and pair the capacity to implement them with funders.
The Congressional briefings were held in the Visitors Center at the U.S. Capitol Building. Minnesota Congressman, John Kline (Republican) and Michigan Congressman, Dale Kildee (Democrat) members of the House Education Committee, reaffirmed their support for the maintenance of the Equitable Services provision in a reauthorized ESEA. These two briefings were the most encouraging. Other speakers, including Senator Harry Reid's Chief Education Policy Advisor, left little doubt that private school needs and desires are not a priority for this administration.
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Private Schools Advisory Committee Meets in Olympia
On April 1, hosted by Martin Mueller, Assistant Superintendent of Student Support and the head of the Private Schools Office at OSPI, private faith-based and independent constituency representatives gathered from across the state to interface with OSPI department personnel that work with private school programs and issues. Highlights of that meeting were:
· The OSPI Private Education Office is moving to full electronic notification on bulletins and memos.
· H1N1 flu preparedness information, Pandemic Flu Preparedness and Emergency Plan Manuals with sample programs are available through Denise.fitch@k12.wa.us. Also see Sample Letter.
 · The new PRO-TEACH PORTFOLIO was launched at www.waproteach.org. This new program will replace the current PRO-CERT program for teacher and principal preparation. This new system will better prepare candidates for certification and be less costly to them as well. Between 1/1/10 and 9/1/11, candidates will have two options: attend a higher ed. Pro-cert program or submit to Pro Teach Porftolio, the online route to complete their credential. Other information regarding these new changes can be accessed at www.pesb.wa.gov.
· The first annual Private Schools Summer Conference information has been sent to all private schools in the state. It is FREE to all private school educators employed by SBE approved private schools. There will be two conferences on June 21-22, at Gonzaga University in Spokane and Seattle Pacific University in Seattle. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT AS MANY PS EDUCATORS ATTEND AS POSSIBLE. Attendance will not affect your current Title II -A monies that you receive from your resident school district. These funds are in addition to those allotted for individual private schools. For registration go to:
The Next PSAC meeting will be held in October, 2010 at the OSPI office. |
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CAPE Outlook
April 2010
The April 2010 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/Outlook354.pdf
In Outlook this month:
- CAPE Board Approves Paper on Accreditation
- Support in Congress for Equitable Participation in ESEA
- NCES Commissioner Meets with Private School Leaders
- School Choice on a Roll
- And More!
Outlook is sponsored by NAIS's School and Student Services, providing comprehensive financial aid services for private schools. Learn more at sss.nais.org.
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Pacific Northwest Montessori Association, PNMA, will have its annual Sharing Fair at Spring Valley Montessori Campus in Federal Way, on Saturday, April 24th, from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm. During the Sharing Fair classrooms are visited and lesson plans in different areas are provided. Different educational materials vendors also display their materials for sale. Refreshments are provided. More information on www.PNMA.org
June 28- July 1, 2010: Creating Safer School Laboratories: A workshop for science teachers and school risk managers. For further information please contact Julie Mix, Pacific Lutheran University, 253.535.7121 or fiop@plu.edu.
College Bound Scholarships: The deadline for this year's 8th graders is June 30,2010; 7th graders may apply now but their deadline is June 30, 2011. School personnel may contact the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) at any time for the names of their College Bound students and the number of students in their school who have applied. Because College Bound is tied to State Need Grant, which continues to receive strong support from the legislature, future funding of College Bound is looking good. Each ESD has a College Bound counselor to help schools sign up students as well as free materials and resources. For further information please contact Beth Ahlstrom, Program Associate, College Bound Scholarship Program 360.596.4808 or betha@hecb.wa.gov.
Subscribe to Washington State Library Updates - Curent Topics include:
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Special One-Time Offer!
To join/renew for 2010-11 at last year's enrollment
Memberships/renewals must be received no later than
May 15, 2010
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Sample H1N1 Letter:
Dear Parent(s):
As state health officer, I am asking for your help to make sure we protect as many state residents as we can from the ongoing H1N1 influenza outbreak.
The AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics recently said that no state had more than half of its children fully immunized against H1N1. USA Today surveyed 10 states and reported that up to 80 percent of children under 10 who had gotten the first dose were overdue for the second dose.
Please think about the protection immunization provides for you and your family members. For children who had the first dose, although it may be longer than 1 month since the first vaccine, these children do not need to repeat the first dose, they need only the second dose.
Thank you for your continued support of the ongoing response to the H1N1 outbreak.
Sincerely,
Maxine Hayes, MD, MPH
State Health Officer
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