2009_12 National Notes

Introduction and Note from John Holmes, ACSI Director for Government Affairs

This edition of ACSI’s National Notes includes the federal legislative “Christmas wish list” of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) regarding the future of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). ACSI respects the legislative “hopes and dreams” of NASSP. But more important to Christian school students who are disabled is their right to participate in the federal benefits of IDEA, even at their own Christian school.

Thankfully, the superintendent of public instruction for the state of Washington provided religious-school students with an early Christmas gift this year. Effective November 2, children who are disabled and who attend Christian schools (or other religious schools) now have the right to participate in IDEA benefits at the Christian school. This victory is part of an ongoing legal battle to overcome the Blaine amendments, which are “the infamous relics of 19th-century anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant bigotry found in Washington’s and 36 other states’ constitutions—and used by teachers’ unions to attack school choice programs in the courts.”¹

The ruling was merely one sentence, but as we know, wonderful gifts can come in small packages! The rule-making order reads, “Purpose:…To allow districts to consider the provision of federal proportional share services on site of religious private schools in addition to other locations for services.”²

We pray that the impediments to school choice and religious freedom that have resulted from the Blaine amendments will continue to be struck down or changed by appropriate rules such as this one, for Christian school students and their parents in every state should have these federal IDEA rights.

Let’s rejoice in this good news, but let’s rejoice especially in His coming at Christmas.

Notes

1. Lisa Knepper, “A Victory for Educational Choice,” Liberty and Law 18, no. 6 (December 2009): 2.

2. See the document from Washington State’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction at http://www.k12.wa.us/specialEd/pubdocs/CR103.pdf.

From Capitol Hill

Health care challenges include an intrusion into the way American small businesses work—and try to survive. Some fear that HR 3962, in its House-passed form, will cause many religious schools, which operate as small businesses do, to close. The 1,990-page Affordable Health Care for America Act, which passed the House by a narrow margin, will reduce employee contributions to health flexible spending plans from $5,000 per year to $2,500 in 2013. Also, the new law will limit drug costs reimbursements to prescription drugs and insulin. Reimbursement of over-the-counter, nonprescription drugs will be eliminated. Another area of concern is the forced participation (in the insurance program) of Christian schools and their employees. Choosing not to participate could bring fines enforced by the IRS. If you wish to read the 2,074-page Senate version of the health bill (HR 3590), select the PDF below.

Senate Version of health bill (3590)

Disaster preparedness. ACSI, along with other private- and religious-school groups, has been advocating that Congress establish legal guidelines for disaster preparedness. When a new catastrophe occurs in the future, such pre-planning will prove to have been helpful. One day America will experience another catastrophe on the scale of Hurricane Katrina. We were not prepared for the effects of that devastation, and there were no adequate laws to help federal, state, and local agencies work together to protect the education of students who were displaced as a result of this horrendous event. Pray that members of Congress will be open to doing something beforehand instead of afterward. Pray also that private and religious schools will be allowed to participate in the process.

Troops to Teachers (TTT). A long-standing program helping eligible veterans become teachers in public schools that are located in poor areas, TTT has been quite successful; almost 10,000 troops have participated since its inception. However, military personnel have not been allowed to participate if they want to teach in urban or rural-poor private or religious schools. ACSI is working to change this law so that Christian schools in poor areas will be able to involve Christian troop members who want to work in Christian schools through this program. Recently, two identical bills were introduced to expand the TTT program: S 1932, sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and only 1 cosponsor, and HR 3943, sponsored by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) and 70 cosponsors. These bills, which were introduced on October 27, 2009, do not, however, include this change that is needed to help private- or religious-school staffs.

News You Can Use

NASSP’s IDEA recommendations. The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) has released its legislative recommendations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The nine recommendations listed below were developed by the IDEA Task Force:

1. “Assist states and districts in effectively recruiting and retaining highly qualified special education teachers.”
2. “Expand professional development opportunities and technical assistance that aids teachers, school leaders, and support personnel to more effectively provide instructional and other services to all students with disabilities.”
3. “Begin transition planning that includes measurable postsecondary goals and transition services by the time a student reaches the age of 14 or by eighth grade.”
4. “Research and develop exemplary models in the areas of instructional and intervention strategies, assessment tools, development of individualized education programs (IEPs), and transition planning in order to meet the needs of students with disabilities.”
5. “Ensure a linkage between states’ data systems to streamline paperwork and increase consistent and appropriate access to services for students with disabilities who transfer between schools, districts, and states.”
6. “Develop an assessment and accountability system for the purpose of calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP) that allows for students with disabilities to be assessed at their current instructional level, as determined by the students’ IEP teams.”
7. “Provide incentives for highly qualified teachers to acquire dual certification in special education and general education.”
8. “Create a common set of standards of care and assessments for each of the disabilities enumerated in IDEA.”
9. “Fully fund IDEA.” [The federal government now pays 40% of the “excess cost” of educating children who have disabilities—the remainder is an unfunded federal mandate; therefore the state and local education agencies have to pay the rest. —Ed.]

In Maine: 31 out of 31 rejection votes! Maine joined 30 other states, which have already taken a popular vote on the issue of gay “marriage,” in rejecting it. And this happened in the liberal “Vacationland” state (according to its license plates) despite several factors: a 2–1 funding disadvantage, the aggressive legal action against traditional-marriage defenders, and a high voter turnout. “Proponents of same-sex marriage, unlike in California’s Prop 8, can’t blame Maine on Mormons, on African Americans who turned out for Barack Obama, or on confusing ballot wording. Their issue loses when the people decide. And it loses every time.”
—Thomas Peters, “Remember (the) Maine!” National Review Online, 11/4/09

News on loan forgiveness from the Federal Student Aid website:

• Loan cancellations for teachers. The general guideline regarding teacher loan cancellation and deferment is that a teacher who teaches in a low-income or subject-matter-shortage area may be eligible. This includes teachers in private schools. But each teacher must meet the guidelines for each type of loan.
• Canceling a Perkins Loan. If you have a loan from the Federal Perkins Loan Program and you are teaching full-time at a low-income school or teaching certain subjects, then you may be eligible for loan cancellation (or deferment). Check with the school that holds your Perkins Loan for more information on how to apply for the cancellation. “You may receive teacher cancellation for services performed in a private academy if the private academy has established its nonprofit status with the…IRS, and if the academy is providing elementary or secondary education according to state law.”
• Stafford Loan forgiveness for teachers. “If you received a Stafford Loan on or after October 1, 1998, and you teach full time for five consecutive years in a low-income school, you might be eligible to have a portion of the loan cancelled.” This applies to Stafford Loans through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. Teacher means “a person who provides direct classroom teaching or classroom-type teaching in a non-classroom setting,” including special education teachers. Elementary school or secondary school means “a public or nonprofit private school that provides elementary education or secondary education as determined by state law (or by the U.S. Department of Education if the school is not in a state).”
• Stafford Loan deferment/forbearance provisions. “If you have a FFEL or Direct Stafford Loan and you’re teaching full time in a teacher shortage area, you might be eligible for deferment (postponement of repayment) if you borrowed before July 1, 1993….If you borrowed on or after July 1, 1993, you might be eligible for forbearance (a temporary postponement or reduction).”

U.S. private school enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reveal that enrollment has gone down between 2001/2002 and 2007/2008 (the latest data available). During that period, the total K–12 private school enrollment went from 5,341,513 to 5,072,451 (a drop of 5%) and Catholic school enrollment went from 2,515,524 to 2,156,173 (a drop of 14%). The percentage of religious school students in American private schools also dropped—from 83.1% in 2001/2002 to 80.6% in 2007/2008.
—NCES, Private School Universe Survey(s) [for 2004 and 2009]

National Notes December 2009