The Washington Federation of Independent Schools 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).

Alliance for School Choice and Institute for Justice Presentations Highlight Annual WFIS Board Retreat

On May 1-2, the WFIS Executive Board met in La Conner for their annual retreat. The focus of the two day meeting was not only to re-cap the achievements of the last year and evaluate the progress of the strategic plan, but to lay the foundation for the future of private education in Washington State. To do so, WFIS invited two nationally involved and respected organizations to help frame the discussion.

Michael Bindus, Esq. from the Seattle Chapter of the Institute for Justice presented an outstanding overview of the history of the Blaine Amendment in both the U.S. and Washington State Constitutions and its implications for school choice initiatives past, present and future. He also recounted the many court decisions that have both furthered or impeded educational choice around the country.

Robert Teegarden, Western States Representative (from the Mississippi River west) from the Alliance for School Choice provided a detailed update on Educational Choice Initiatives from around the country. The Alliance is a national organization that works with private schools, state legislators and think tanks to further educational opportunities for our nation's K-12 student population. This past year, 46 states introduced some form of school choice legislation and many of those initiatives were successful. These ranged from voucher programs to personal and business tax credits for donations made to private and public education. The majority of legislation has focused on alternatives to poorly performing schools and students living below the poverty line. While each of these bills contain state-specific initiatives, the overall national direction appears to be positively favorable to supporting parents' rights to choose the educational program that best meets their children's needs. While there has been some push-back by the education unions, the majority of the bills passed have been in Democrat controlled states. Louisiana, Florida, Maryland and Georgia led the way with significant legislative victories this Spring.

As WFIS plans for the future, the insights and support of both of these organizations will be a tremendous asset to our success.

Judy Jennings
Executive Director

Executive Board Selects 08-09 Leadership Team

To provide leadership, focus and direction for the upcoming year, the WFIS Executive Board elected the following leadership team:

President: Mr. Chris Gavin, Principal, Bellarmine Preparatory School

Pres. Elect: Mr. Ron Taylor, Supt., Bellevue Christian Schools

Past Pres: Mr. Paul Bethke, Head, Concordia Lutheran School

Sec/Treas: Mr. Eric Rassmussen, Supt., Kings Schools

Congratulations! Each of these individuals provides a wealth of leadership experience to our schools.

Renew Your WFIS Membership Now!

In our ongoing efforts to provide you with the best, most efficient service possible, we have upgraded our membership process in a way that will not only save time and money, but will allow you the opportunity to keep information about your school up to date.

This will enable parents in their search for a school to access information about the unique qualities of your school. They will be able to quickly generate information about schools in their area, and connect to your web site for more information about your school's mission, open houses, etc.

Please do not delay renewing your WFIS membership for 2008-09. New members are invited to join at this time as well. Go to http://www.wfis.org/member now. You will be asked to enter your e-mail address of record and OSPI school code (if you don't know it, you will find options), then:

Edit your school data
Update e-mail addresses
Print out your statement and mail it to WFIS with your payment.

It's as simple as that - no more wasteful large packets in the mail and exhorbitant postage rates! Just one page, one envelope and one stamp.

As with all new programs, there may be some glitches, so please be patient with us and let us know how the process works for you.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Jan Morrison
Assistant to the Director