December, 2000
Success Stories: The Office of Non-Public Education
welcomes readers to send in their success stories to be shared with private
school educators and the general private school community. Success
stories may include family involvement, benefits from federal programs,
cooperative programs with public schools, and/or successful initiatives
or projects undertaken by the school. All submissions must contain
a contact name and phone number and can be sent to OIIANon-PublicEducation@ed.gov E-rate Update: Private schools that intend to apply
for the E-Rate telecommunications discount for Funding Year 4 (July 1,
2001-June 30, 2002) should file their Form 470 very soon in order to be
able to file their Form 471 within the "window" that is open from November
6, 2000 to January 18, 2001. Before a school can file its Form 471,
the school must first develop a technology plan, post a Form 470, wait
a 28 day mandatory period for service providers to bid on new service requests,
and sign a contract or enter into an agreement with a vendor (except that
contracts are not required in the case of tariff telecommunications services
or month-to-month service arrangements, which are usually provided without
a formal written contract). This means that a school must file Form
470 no later than December 20, which is 28 days prior to January 18th.
Your form must be postmarked by this date. A school needs to follow
these steps to file a Form 471 within the window: * Develop a technology
plan and have it approved by your state or another certified approving
body. (The SLD has certified approval entities for nonpublic school
plans, which are listed in the SLD web site.) However, if a school
is applying for E-rate discounts only on basic local and long distance
telephone service, no technology plan is required. Submit Form 470
very soon. Form 470 can and should be filed as soon as possible,
but not later than December 20th. (The opening and closing dates
for the window apply only to the filing of Form 471.) Form 470 describes
the services or products your school seeks, includes information about
you that service providers need to know to best meet your needs, and contains
a certification form. If you are seeking bids on new services for
which you plan on receiving E-rate discounts, your Form 470 must be posted
to the SLD Web Site for a period of 28 days before you sign a contract
with a vendor from the bids received. File your Form 470 online (you
still need to mail a signed copy of the Certification page to SLD) to save
time. If you file by paper, the posting will be delayed for as long
as 40 days. The 28-day mandatory period for service providers to
bid on your new service requests does not start until your Form 470 is
posted. A school is allowed to skip Form 470 for services under a
multi-year contract for which a Form 470 was filed in a prior year.
When filling in the Form 471 request, simply cite the application number
(formerly referred to as the USCN) of the Form 470 previously filed.
Wait 28 days for a competitive bidding period. Upon processing or
posting of the Form 470, the SLD will notify you of the date -- the "Allowable
Contract Date" -- upon which you may sign a contract or enter into an agreement
for new services or file Form 471. You are required to wait 28 days
before you sign a contract or enter into an agreement for services.
After you sign a contract or enter into an agreement, you can file FCC
Form 471. Sign a contract or enter into an agreement for services
with a service provider or vendor. You do not need a contract for
tariffed services (telecommunications services purchased at regulated rates),
month-to-month Internet access, cellular services, or paging services for
which you do not have a written contract but for which your standard monthly
bills are proof of a binding, legal arrangement, but a Form 470 must be
filed for these services each year). File Form 471 within the window
from early November-mid January. The Form 471 lists the services
for which you are requesting E-rate discounts, the entities that are eligible
to receive these services, and establishes the discount rate you will receive
on these services. For the latest information on the E-Rate, including
detailed step-by-step instructions for applying for discounts, go to "What's
New at SLD" at http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/default.asp Child Find: This week's update includes information
on IDEA's Child Find process. The next issue will look at provision
of services to parentally-placed private school children under IDEA.
It is important and essential to inform private school officials and parents
of the nature and extent of school districts' obligations to parentally-placed
private school students with disabilities under Part B of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA Part B), as amended in 1997.
The Office of Non-Public Education has received many inquiries from private
school administrators about IDEA Part B and its implementing regulations
regarding parentally-placed private school students with disabilities.
Following are some of the highlights of the law and regulations in relation
to child find: Child Find Child find refers to ongoing activities
undertaken by state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies
(LEAs) to locate, identify, and evaluate all children residing in the State
who are suspected of having disabilities under Part B of IDEA (Part B),
so that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) can be made available
to eligible children. If, through the child find process, the private
school child is found to have a disability as defined under IDEA, then
an offer of FAPE will be made. Parents may choose to accept this
offer of FAPE and move their child to the public school setting, or they
may refuse to move their child to the public school and ask for services
to be considered while their child remains a student at the private school.
This is the category referred to in the law as a "parentally-placed private
school student." Activities undertaken to carry out child find for
parentally-placed private school students must be comparable to activities
undertaken for child find for students in public schools. In determining
how and when to carry out child find, the local public school district,
referred to in the law as the local educational agency (LEA), must consult
with appropriate representatives of parentally-placed private school students
with disabilities. Following the initial evaluation, a group of qualified
professionals and the child's parents must make an eligibility determination,
and this group must determine whether the child has a disability as defined
in Part B. If a determination is made that the child needs special
education and related services, the school district must develop an individualized
education program (IEP) for the child, unless the parents make clear their
intention to enroll their child at a private school and that they are not
interested in a public program or placement for their child. The
costs of child find activities, including individual evaluations, are borne
by the LEA and are separate from the monies allocated for the provision
of services. Annual Expenditures Annual expenditures for parentally-placed
private school students with disabilities are calculated based on the total
number of students with disabilities residing in the LEA's jurisdiction
eligible to receive special education and related services under Part B
as compared with the total number of eligible parentally-placed private
school students with disabilities residing in the LEA's jurisdiction.
The proportionate share is determined based on the total number of eligible
parentally-placed private school students with disabilities residing within
the LEA's jurisdiction and not limited to the number of those students
receiving special education or related services in accordance with a services
plan. The next newsletter will provide information on provision of
services under IDEA for those children in private schools found to have
a disability. For further information on IDEA Part B (as amended
in 1997) and implementing regulations regarding the obligations of school
districts to parentally-placed private school students, click on to http://www.nichcy.org/private.htm November,
2000 Participating in Federal Education Programs -- Title VI:
Title VI provides innovative assistance, including supplementary educational
materials such as computers, computer software, library materials, and
reference materials; programs to improve the higher-order thinking skills
of disadvantaged students; and programs to serve gifted and talented students.
Mitchell v. Helms (decided on June 28, 2000) confirmed the constitutionality
of Title VI when the Supreme Court held that providing computers, library
and media materials, and other instructional materials to students in private,
religious schools under Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Printed below is the guidance on the participation of private school students
in Title VI. The full guidance of the legislation can be found at
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ESEA-TitleVI.doc
October,
2000 Blue Ribbon School Award Winners: One hundred ninety-eight
schools were honored in Washington, DC, September 21-22, 2000, seventeen
of them were private schools. For information on the Blue Ribbon
Schools program, visit www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/BlueRibbonSchools/.
For information about the participation of private schools in the Blue
Ribbon Schools program and to learn how to nominate your school for an
award, visit the web site for the Council for American Private Education
(CAPE) at www.capenet.org.
Private School Locator-CD ROM Version: In response
to the increasing concern about alternatives in education and therefore
the growing interest and need for data on private education, the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has made a collection of data on
CD-ROM on private elementary and secondary schools. With this CD-ROM,
NCES aims to provide an accurate and complete list of private schools to
serve as a sampling frame for NCES surveys of private schools and to provide
a user-friendly way for the general public to access information about
private elementary and secondary schools. Specifically, the CD-ROM
presents data on schools with grades kindergarten through twelve by selected
characteristics such as school size, school level, religious orientation,
geographic region, community type, length of school day, number of teachers
employed, and program emphasis. The CD-ROM will be useful for many
different policy- and research-related issues, such as the growth of religiously-affiliated
schools, the total enrollment of private school students in K-12, and the
number of high school graduates. The information on the CD-ROM is
the same information as can be found on the web-based Private School Locator.
The locator can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/locator/index.html.
To obtain a single free copy of the CD-ROM on private elementary and secondary
schools, contact ED PUBS at 1-877-4ED-PUBS. National Distinguished School Principals Honored:
On September 21st, sixty-six outstanding public and private elementary
and middle school principals from across the nation and U.S. schools abroad
were recognized as 2000 National Distinguished Principals by the U.S. Department
of Education and the National Association of Elementary School Principals
(NAESP). They are recognized for their outstanding contributions
to their schools and communities. They will be honored on October
6 at an awards banquet at the J.W. Marriott in Washington, D.C. Winners
from private schools included:
September,
2000 The Office of Non-Public Education frequently receives inquiries about
forgiveness of student loans for teachers in private schools. Please
pass on the following information to your teachers. Student Loan
Programs Offering Teaching Service Cancellation/Deferment/Reduced Service
Option For Which Private School Teachers are Eligible:
Federal Perkins Loan Cancellations: Federal Perkins
Loan Borrowers are eligible for cancellation for full-time teaching in
three categories: Teaching in an elementary or secondary school that
serves low-income students (Perkins/NDSL loans made on or after July 1,
1987); teaching in an elementary or secondary school system that has a
shortage of teachers in a designated subject matter area (Perkins Loans
made on or after July 23, 1992); teaching disabled students in a public
or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school (Perkins/NDSL loans made
on or after July 1, 1987). For a list of designated teacher shortage
areas, go to www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/students/repayment/teachers/tsa.html.
For a list of schools classified as low-income schools, go to www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/repayment/teachers/search_t99.html
For more information on the Federal Perkins Loan plan, go to www. ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/repayment/teachers/perkins.html.
Stafford Loan Cancellations: The Higher Education
Amendments of 1998 added Loan forgiveness for Stafford loans. To
qualify for forgiveness, the teacher must be a new borrower on or after
October 1, 1998 and must teach for 5 consecutive complete school years
in a low-income school. This program will repay loans up to $5000.
Regulations are necessary to implement this program, and those regulations
are still being negotiated. However, it is likely that the Perkins
low-income school list will also be used to determine if a school qualifies
as low income for the purpose of canceling Stafford loans.
Stafford Loan Deferments: Federal Stafford Loans
offer deferred repayments for full-time teaching in a federally-designated
teacher shortage area for a maximum of three years for teachers who received
a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program Loan for enrollment in classes
that started between July 1, 1987 and June 30, 1993, and had no outstanding
FFEL Program Loan on the date they signed the promissory note for the loan.
If teachers qualify for teacher service deferment of an FFEL Program loan
for enrollment between July 1, 1987 and June 30, 1993, they may also defer
any additional FFEL Program loan or Direct Loan that they received after
June 30, 1993. For more information on the Stafford Loan Deferment
program, go to www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/repayment/teachers/.
August,
2000 Benefits for Private School Students and
Teachers from Federal Education Programs:
To increase and/or
Update on the Proceedings of the Pierce
v. Society of Sisters Conference:
On July 11th-12th, the Office of
After-School Programs:
Keeping Children Safe and Smart: Jointly authored by the U.S. Department
of Justice, the
Ear Infections and Language Development:
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research
School Involvement in Early Childhood:
Published by the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and
Building Your Baby's Brain -- A Parent's Guide to the First Five
Years: Written by Diane Dodge and Cate Heroman, this parents' guide
to the first five years of a baby's life informs parents of young children
how they can take advantage of recent findings from brain research to optimize
or strengthen their children's learning and development. It provides information
on what scientists have discovered about babies' brains and why parents
of young children should be concerned. The book is online in English or
Spanish (PDF format) at www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ECI/publications.html.
For further information or question, call 1-800-637-3652 or email info@TeachingStrategies.com
July,
2000 Mitchell v. Helms US Supreme Court Decision:
On June 28, 2000, the US Supreme Court ruled favorable in the Mitchell
v. Helms case. By a 6-3 vote, the court upheld the constitutionality
of providing materials and equipment to private school students under the
Title VI (formerly Chapter 2) program. The US Department of Justice
argued successfuly on behalf of the US Department of Education. The
US Department of Education has been defending this case since 1985, filing
briefs in support of the program at all levels of the litigation -- including
the US Supreme Court. Much of the reasoning was based on Agostini
v. Felton in which the Federal government played a pivotal role in restoring
Title I educational services to the premises of private religious schools.
In commenting on the decision, US Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley
stated: "The Court's decision was not about vouchers. Under
the current Title VI program, no funds go to any private school.
The program remains under public control. Unlike vouchers, the computers
and other instructional materials provided for private school students
under Title VI must be supplemental to the basic education that otherwise
would be provided for these students. I do not believe that vouchers
are the answer to providing a high quality education for all our nation's
children. Vouchers would make private and parochial schools less
private and less parochial."
Sante Fe Independent School District v.
Doe US Supreme Court Decision:
On June 19, 2000, in a 6-3 vote, the US Supreme Court held that the Sante
Fe school district's policy of permitting student-led, student-initiated
prayer at high school football games violated the Establishment Clause
of the First Amendment. Guided by Lee v. Weisman in which the Court
held the Constitution guarantees that government may not coerce anyone
to support or participate in religion or its exercise or otherwise act
in a way that establishes a state religion or religious faith, the Court
found the Sante Fe school district's policy of allowing an elected student
council chaplain to deliver a prayer over the public address system before
the start of home varsity football games to be a public speech solemnizing
an event through religious messages. The Court rejected the District's
arguments that its policy was not government coercion because the pre-game
messages were of the students' choices and that attendance at an extracurricular
event was voluntary as opposed to a graduation ceremony. Instead,
the court held the student-delivered invocations were subject to particular
regulations that confined the content and topic of the student's messages
and that attendance of some students such as cheerleaders, band members,
and team members were in fact mandatory. Moreover, the Court ruled
that the District's election scheme turned the school into a forum for
religious debate and empowered the student body majority to subject students
of minority views to religious messages. Thus, in lthe Court's view,
the District's policy involved both perceived and actual endorsement of
religion through its text and electoral, majoritarian process. The
US Department of Education's guidance on Religious Expression in Public
Schools does not address specifically the issue before the Court in this
case and leaves open that purely private religious speeches by students
are not prohibited by the First Amendment. As stated by the Court
itself in Santa Fe: "Nothing in the Constitution . . . prohibits
any public school student from voluntarily praying at any time before,
during, and after the school day."
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale:
On June 28, 2000, the US Supreme Court held that the Boy Scouts of America's
First Amendment's right of expressive association protected the group from
accepting a member it did not desire, in this case, an assistant scoutmaster
of a New Jersey troop who is an avowed homosexual and gay rights activist.
The Court determined that the Boy Scouts of America organization engaged
in "Expressive association" when its adult leaders inculcated its youth
members with its value system, but that forced inclusion of Dale and his
homosexual beliefs and conduct would undermine and contradict the Scouts'
values of 'Morally straight" and "clean" behavior in the Scout Oath and
Law. The Scouts' right to oppose or disfavor homosexual conduct would
be significantly burdened by the state requirement that the organization
retain Dale and that such intrusion, the Court ruled, ran afoul of the
organization's freedom of expressive association.
June,
2000 Improving America's Schools Conferences: Each fall,
the U.S. Department of Education presents three regional conferences on
Improving America's Schools (IAS). This fall, the conferences will
be held in Sacramento, CA (September 18-20); Louisville, KY (October 2-4);
and Washington, DC (December 13-15). The first day of the conference
is devoted to program presentations and workshops. This is the day
that you can attend sessions on topics such as Title I, special education,
safe and drug-free schools, and technology. Day two features education
reform institutes. On day two, you can spend an intensive and in-depth
day on such topics as reading, mathematics, parent involvement, school
safety, and many others. Day three features critical issues and special
interest seminars. On day three, Michelle Doyle (Director of the
USDE Office of Non-Public Education) will be presenting a critical issues
session on serving private school students through ESEA programs.
For more information or to register for the conference, visit www.ncbe.gwu.edu/iasconferences
Condition of Education: The Department released
The Condition of Education 2000 on June 1st. This report shows encouraging
trends in American education. Many of the categories of elementary
and secondary statistics break out public and private schools. The
full text of the report is available on line at http://nces.ed.gov
A copy of the report can be ordered by calling 1-877-4ED-PUBS.
College Affordability: Two opportunities to pay
for college are worthy of note. The Hope Scholarship tax credit provides
up to $1,500 in tax relief for the first two years of college. Be
sure your graduating seniors are aware of this program. Secondly,
the Lifetime Learning tax credit provides up to $1,000 in tax relief for
juniors and seniors, graduate students, and adults seeking job training.
This credit can be used by your teachers taking additional course work.
May,
2000 IDEA: Many private schools have experienced a great
deal of confusion and frustration regarding the availability of services
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for private
school children with disabilities. To help clarify the issues surrounding
IDEA implementation, the Department's Office of Special Education Programs,
with significant input from the Office of Non-Public Education and private
school organizations, has released guidelines for IDEA. The guidelines
can be found at www.nichcy.org/new.htm#newpubs
Reading: The U.S. Department of Education's Reading
Excellence Program requires the equitable participation of private school
students. To help clarify just what that means, new guidance has
been published. It is available at www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/guidance.html
Questions D10 through D13 explain how private school children are included
in the benefits of the Reading Excellence Program.
School Construction: "Schools as Centers of the
Community: A Citizens' Guide for Planning and Design" provides excellent
information for any group planning to design an elementary or secondary
school-public or private. The book takes the reader through design
principles and the facilities master planning process, and provides excellent
examples of innovative school designs. This guide is one in a series
of publications produced in cooperation with the White House Task Force
on Livable Communities. You can order this publication by calling
1-877-4ED-PUBS.
College: For students exploring college or career
training, sorting through a seemingly boundless universe of data on programs,
costs and academic requirements can be frustrating. Navigating the
information maze is now easier with the U.S. Department of Education's
new web site, College Opportunities On-Line (COOL). COOL provides
direct information on more than 9,000 U.S. colleges, universities and career
schools. The address is www.ed.gov/ipeds/cool
* Carolyn Coffey of Christian Lutheran School in West Covina,
CA
Workplace Poster Requirements for Private Schools:
Private schools are also employers, and as such they are required to post
certain federal and state workplace notices. The federal posters
that your school is most likely to be required to post are the following
-- but for specific guidance contact the Office of Small Business Programs
in the U.S. Department of Labor, or your relevant state agency:
* Sister Mary Menegatti of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Los Angeles,
CA
* Carolota Morales of Saint Agatha Catholic School in Miami, FL
* Gordon Stuckert of Saint Paul Lutheran School in Peachtree City,
GA
* Daniel Netz of Pella Christian Grade School in Pella, IA
* Joseph Sine of Saint Charles Borromeo School in Oklahoma City, OK
Some employers may also be required to post:
To obtain federal posters and more information about poster requirements
or other compliance assistance matters, contact the Office of Small Business
Programs, U.S. Department of Labors. Call toll-free (888) 9-SBREFA,
or (202) 219-9144), or visit the DOL poster page at http://www2.dol.gov/dol/osbp/public/sbrefa/poster/main.htm
promote awareness on the benefits Federal Education
Programs offer to private school students and teachers -- such as
Title I of the Elementary And Secondary Act:
Education for Disadvantaged Students, Title III of the Elementary and
Secondary Act: Technology Education for All,
and Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Act: Bilingual Education
--
the Office of Non- Public Education has published
a brochure summarizing some of these programs. For a copy of this
publication, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS or email your
request to OIIANon-PublicEducation@ed.gov.
Non-Public Education held a national conference
commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in
Pierce v. Society of Sisters that upheld the
right of private schools to exist. The Office of Non-Public Education
is still in
the process of putting together proceedings from
the Pierce, Pluralism, and Partnership conference. They will be available
in the near future. Email OIIANon-PublicEducation@ed.gov
or "Q" at hia_quach@ed.gov for questions or to request
the conference's proceedings. Proceedings
will also be available on our web site www.ed.gov/news.html,
"What's
New."
Department of Education has published a report,
"After-School Programs: Keeping Children Safe and Smart," in
response to the growing concern of parents on
the safety of their children at school and their susceptibility to drugs
and
crime on school grounds. The report focuses
exclusively on the benefits children receive in terms of increased safety,
improved learning, and reduced risk-taking.
This publication is available at www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
and at the
Partnership for Family Involvement in Education's
web site, http://pfie.ed.gov , or by calling 1-800-872-5327
and Improvement (OERI) has just released a new
publication, "Ear Infections and Language Development" to inform
parents and caregivers about how ear infections
and middle ear fluid (called otitis media) might affect a child's language
development and what steps they should take to
help. Jointly authored by the National Center for Early Development
and Learning and the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association, the report contains tips for preventing ear
infections and for helping the child learn language
and early literacy skills. This publication, while supplies last,
is available
at www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html
or by calling 1-877-4ED-PUBS. For content information, please contact Tamara
Knowles at 202-219-3380 or via email at tamara_knowles@ed.gov.
Education, the "School Involvement in Early Childhood"
calls for a coordinated link between preschool care and the
education system with the public school system.
The report highlights examples of how public schools can become
involved with families and preschool care and
education programs to improve school readiness and early school success.
It looks at why public schools should be involved
in early childhood and what facilitates that involvement, what roles
public schools should play in early childhood
and what challenges they meet in their involvement in Early Childhood,
and
what are the key issues for professional development.
The information is very applicable to private schools with early
childhood programs or those exploring the option
to open one. To obtain a copy of this report, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS.