1. Homeschoolers Concerned, Designation Language Moves to Bill Form
2. AYP Results Released
3. Elsewhere: KS District Dumps Union, AZ Defeat, Blaine Amendments

HOMESCHOOLERS CONCERNED, “DESIGNATION” LANGUAGE EVOLVES

Budget cuts abound and some are deep. So deep that the proposed cuts reached the home study unit at the Department of Education. This unit handles all the paperwork which homeschoolers are required to submit each year. 

The news of proposed cuts in this unit reached homeschoolers in an article in the Times Argus in which Governor Douglas mentioned in passing that the department could cut staffing by "…having local school districts oversee the state’s home school program." 

This brief reference was not missed by homeschoolers. The Commissioner of Education has received many emails about this. Homeschoolers are very concerned about having local districts handle this responsibility. Many public schools do not understand homeschooling, much less the kind of paperwork that is submitted. 

The plan is to leave the home study unit in place until next January. Over the summer homeschoolers will work with the Commissioner of Education on how to accomplish savings in the budget and preserve homeschooling freedoms. 

Homeschooling is not part of the public school system. Having this system oversee homeschooling would be problematic. 

Meanwhile, the designated schools bill VBE is following (in which tuition towns could designate public schools as well as independent ones as their district school – see last week’s VER for an explanation of the risks of this bill) became S.127, which was placed on the Senate Calendar for the first time on March 23, 2008, whereupon Sen. McCormack proposed an amendment (pdf) to repeal the two-vote provision for passing school budgets, already in the law. 

The bill was sent to Senate Finance committee for further consideration without action on the amendment or the bill. You can find S. 127 here (pdf).

Its language now goes beyond the designation issue. It now seeks to: 

1. exclude tuition payments from the calculations in the divided question
2. exclude tuition payments from calculations of excess spending penalties
3. encourage districts to seek waivers from the school quality standards that impede innovative and effective teaching methods
4. use Medicaid funds for programs which facilitate early identification of children with special needs
5. require districts without elementary schools to allow a student to enroll in an approved independent school at public cost with the tuition payment capped
6. allow a district that does not maintain a secondary school to designate a public school (they can only designate an independent school now)
7. allow parents in such districts to enroll a student in another school at public cost with the cost capped

MORE THAN A QUARTER OF VERMONT SCHOOLS DO NOT MAKE "ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS"

The Vermont Department of Education, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, released its 2009 accountability determinations last week, showing that 29 percent, or 88 schools, did not make "adequate yearly progress," as determined by statewide testing of students. Other results show:

• One school exited School Improvement.
• Seventy-seven schools, or 26 percent, are now in School Improvement.
• Thirty-one of those schools are now in Corrective Action.
• Eighty-eight schools, or 29 percent, did not make AYP this year.
• Twelve of those schools did not make AYP for the first time.

A school must make adequate yearly progress for all students, as well as for students in several sub-groups. AYP determinations are made for sub-groups of students by race, socio-economic status, English language learners and students with disabilities. Schools must have at least 40 students in a given sub-group in order for a decision to be made for that group.

AYP determinations are based on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) assessments and the Vermont Alternate Assessments given to Vermont public school students in grades three through eight and 11. The NECAP was given to students in grades three through eight and grade 11 in October 2008. This is the fourth year these exams have been given in the elementary and middle grades, and the second time they were given to students in grade 11.

Students in schools that have failed to make AYP several years in a row could be eligible for supplemental educational services or even the choice of another school. Parents in those districts should contact the Vermont Department of Education (online at www.doe.state.vt.us) or their schools to determine eligibility.

The Departments press packet on this year’s AYP findings, including a list of schools not meeting AYP, can be found here (pdf).

ELSEWHERE: A KANSAS DISTRICT BOOTS THE NEA

The 56 teachers of the Riley County Unified School District in Kansas decided they would be better off without belonging to NEA and Kansas NEA, decertifying the Riley County Education Association and forming the new Riley County Educators as a local-only union. Liability insurance and legal protection will be provided by the Association of American Educators. (Source: Education Intelligence Association – www.eiaonline.com

ELSEWHERE: NOW SOME BAD NEWS FROM ARIZONA
From the Alliance for School Choice 

March 25, 2009: The Arizona Supreme Court today issued a ruling that seriously jeopardizes the educational futures of more than 470 foster children and students with special needs.

The Court’s opinion in the Cain v. Horne case says that Arizona’s Scholarships for Pupils with Disabilities Program and its Displaced Pupil’s Grant Program violate one of the Arizona Constitution’s Blaine Amendments, specifically Article 9, section 10 which prohibits "appropriations of public money made in aid of any church, or private or sectarian school, or any public service corporation."

These programs, which were enacted in 2006, are designed to provide additional school choices to families of students with special needs and to foster children.

The Alliance and school choice allies in Arizona are deeply disappointed with the Court’s decision. Most importantly, we are saddened for the families of the children in these programs, who may be forced to remove their children from the best schools they have ever known.

Arizona's strong coalition of school choice supporters, principally the Institute for Justice—which has worked tirelessly and collaborated side-by-side with hundreds of parents to protect all of Arizona's school choice programs through multiple legal challenges—is evaluating options regarding the futures of these programs and the students who receive these crucial scholarships.

"This is not the end of the line for these parents or for school choice advocates," said Tim Keller, executive director of the Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter. "We will consider all of our legal and policy options in light of today’s unfortunate decision in the hopes of helping these vulnerable students obtain the best education that Arizona has to offer, regardless of whether that is in a public or a private school."

"Today’s ruling, while disappointing to parents and school choice supporters, should not lend encouragement to special interest groups who believe litigating against parents and depriving their children of educational options is somehow beneficial. We are hopeful that a path can be found that will allow these students to attend the schools that best meet their needs" said Alliance Interim President John Schilling, formerly an Associate Superintendent at the Arizona Department of Education.

WHAT ARE "BLAINE AMENDMENTS?"

As noted in the above story, the Arizona court used language from a "Blaine amendment" to the state constitution to strike down a valuable school choice program.

Blaine amendments started showing up in state constitutions in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Named after U.S. Rep. James G. Blaine (R-Maine), these provisions prohibit the use of public funds at "sectarian" institutions. However, the amendments were blatantly anti-Catholic in nature and intent. "Sectarian" was code for "Catholic" at the time. Rep. Blaine was unsuccessful at including his provision in the federal constitution but 37 states did include his language in their state constitutions.

Blaine himself ran as the Republican nominee for president in 1884 but lost, largely due to his defeat in New York where a supporter railed against Democrats as the party of "rum, Romanism and rebellion." When Blaine did not disavow these comments, angry Irish Catholics came to the polls to vote against him.

For more on the Blaine amendment story, visit this link.

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