Introduction and Note from John Holmes, ACSI Director for Government Affairs
Here in Washington there is no shortage of critical issues that affect our Christian school family. We encourage you to keep your legislators aware of your viewpoints about these concerns.
Do take advantage of ACSI’s information, but also be sure to read the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) website. ACSI’s work becomes more effective as we combine our efforts with other private and religious school organizations that are under the CAPE “umbrella.”
God’s best to you!
From Capitol Hill
SOAR Act (S1552). It’s going to take new legislation like the bipartisan Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act of 2009 (SOAR) introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) to overcome the decision of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to end the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP). ACSI believes it is insufficient to allow only current students and their siblings to graduate from the school choice program. We strongly urge the full reauthorization of the DCOSP for future students, something that can be accomplished through legislation such as the SOAR Act. S 1552 will make appropriate technical updates and will grant $20 million for DCOSP, $20 million for the DC public charter schools, and $20 million for the DC public schools. We encourage you to contact your senators and ask them to cosponsor S 1552.
Let’s defend parental rights. ACSI, along with other pro-family groups, encourages you to contact your U.S. senators and urge them to cosponsor SJ Res. 16—the “Parental Rights Amendment.” Currently, Senator DeMint’s (R-SC) resolution has only 4 cosponsors. This amendment is designed to protect the rights of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children. Parental rights have traditionally been upheld through American history, but they are not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution. Times have changed, and there is now a need for an amendment to the Constitution to insure parental rights, because each state handles these rights differently and international treaties now oppose parental rights. The House version is HJ Res. 42, sponsored by Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), which has 120 cosponsors. Learn more at the Parental Rights Amendment website.
The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (HR 3221) passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 253–171. It includes segments that will affect ACSI member colleges, their students—especially in terms of student loans—and ACSI early education members. HR 3221 virtually eliminates all private lending to college students and makes the federal government the sole source of each of the types of student loans. The act also makes $8 billion available to states that seek grants on a competitive basis for public prekindergarten expansion.
Education address. On September 8, President Barack Obama, in a national address to students, challenged them to take responsibility for their own academic success. He told the students that succeeding in life requires hard work. Students were urged to set goals, do their homework, and seek guidance from positive role models. Our current president and previous presidents have experienced controversy over this type of speech to students, because opposing political parties feared that the president, like President Obama or George H.W. Bush, would use this type of platform to promote his own political agenda.
Education protest. Meanwhile, that same morning, educational leaders led by parent activist Virginia Walden Ford and former D.C. councilman Kevin Chavous, protested the administration’s decision reversal to phase out the DCOSP. This reversal denies hundreds of low-income children the chance to attend safe and effective private and religious schools. The protestors asked how President Obama can challenge American students to succeed in school when his administration is responsible for denying children the opportunity to receive a quality education. On September 21, the ACSI Legal/Legislative Committee of the ACSI Executive Board met and discussed the school choice political challenges, both here in Washington and across the USA, with Mr. Chavous. —“Voucher Advocates Face Up to Police,” Washington Times, 9/9/09
Chairman Harkin. Because of the death of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), who was chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) was appointed its new chairman. Senator Harkin resigns his post as chairman of the Agriculture Committee, but remains chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. The new HELP chairman stated that he was “honored to accept the chairmanship of the Senate HELP Committee. To serve in this capacity is to carry on the legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy, who dedicated his life to ensuring that our economy works for all Americans, guaranteeing every child the opportunity to pursue a quality education and, of course, the cause of his life: access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.” —Harkin Press Staff, “Senator Harkin Takes the Helm of Senate Health, Education, Labor And Pensions (HELP) Committee,” Tom Harkin: Iowa's Senator website, 9/10/09.
News You Can Use
Faith-based initiatives report. At the end of 2008, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services released the final report of an important study on how various states have structured their faith-based initiatives: The Role of State Faith Community Liaisons in Charitable Choice Implementation by Pamela Winston, et al., Mathematica Policy Research.
A Parent’s Guide to Education Reform is now available to you from the Heritage Foundation here in Washington, DC. The guide is especially designed for parents who are striving to provide for their children quality education. Use this parent’s guide to help each family gain real influence in reforming education policy in America.
Public assessment of public schools has fallen to the lowest level recorded since 1981: 18% gave a grade of A or B, down from the 30% reported by a Gallup poll as recently as 2005, while no less than 25% of those polled by an Education Next poll gave the schools either an F or a D. High-school graduation rates are lower today than they were in 1970; and “math and reading scores of 17-year-olds have been stagnant for four decades.” Detailed Education Next poll results are available at the EducationNext website. Professor Paul E. Peterson, “What the Public Thinks of Public Schools,” Wall Street Journal, 9/8/09.
H1N1 Guidance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued guidance for officials who are planning school-based vaccination programs related to the H1N1 (Swine) flu. The document, titled "2009 H1N1 Influenza School-Located Vaccination (SLV): Information for Planners," is available in an H1N1 page on the CDC website. Although the document states that an SLV "typically involves collaboration between public health departments and public and private schools/school districts," this is an issue that must be worked out with your local education agency. You can also retrieve this critical information from the Legal/Legislative Alerts page on the ACSI website. Current preschool information about H1N1 is also available at the same ACSI page.
National Notes, October 2009