INPEA December Update

Happy Holidays

Wishing all of our member schools, a Merry Christmas, a belated Happy Hanukkah, Milad un Nabi, and Happy Kwanzaa!

Looking forward to serving you in the coming year!

John, Andrea, and Stacie

ISTEP+

There continues to be ample concern about the most recent ISTEP results and the associated A-F scores. The State Board is scheduled to vote on the A-F grades on January 19th. With the multitude of concerns that continue to surface, it is unclear if the State Board will vote that day or not. The General Assembly is also engaging in the issue. It is presumed that some legislation will be introduced early in the session to attempt to address the concerns being voiced by public, charter, and non-public schools. What kind of action is still unclear.

INPEA will be engaging with key legislative leaders to share what we are seeing and hearing statewide in our non-public schools.

An important question, still unanswered, is how will these grades impact school accountability? Additional concerns include how lower grades may be received by teachers, parents, and students. Choice schools have the added stress of losing the ability of enrolling new voucher students if they receive two consecutive years of either a D or F grade.

A few weeks ago, INPEA provided some guidance in communicating with parents about the potential of school grades dropping, and in some cases significantly dropping.Those templates can be found below.

INPEA will continue to keep you informed of developments. Watch for email updates and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sample parent letter and Talking Points here.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Since the No Child Left Behind Act (also known as Elementary and Secondary Education Act) was created thirteen years ago, Congress has acted to rewrite and update this nation's major K-12 education statute. This update, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), was passed in both houses of Congress by substantial bipartisan majorities: 359-64 in the House of Representatives, and 85-12 in the Senate. President Barack Obama signed the bill on December 10th.

I t will take some time to unpack ESSA's provisions, but non-public schools are likely to be pleased with the new law. A partial list of highlights includes the following:

State departments of education will be required to designate an ombudsman to monitor and enforce the portions of the law relating to non-public schools;
The proportionate share of Title I, Part A funds available for services to eligible non-public school students must be calculated prior to the transfer of funds, or any allowance for other expenditures by public school districts;
The amount of Title II, Part A professional development funding available to non-public school educators will be calculated on the basis of a public school district's total Title II, Part A formula grant allocation, rather than the amount of that allocation a district decides to devote to professional development;
State departments of education will be responsible for communicating to non-public school officials in a timely manner the amount of funding available from local school districts to provide educational services and other benefits made available by relevant portions of ESSA;
Consultation will require that government and non-public school officials shall both have the goal of reaching agreement on how to provide equitable and effective programs for eligible private school children; and,
Complaint procedures have been better specified.

ESSA Bill Text

ESSA and ESEA Comparison

Federal Programs Training

Topics that will be covered include: Title I, Title IIA, IDEA, and reauthorization.

Come to learn more about:

Identifying students' needs
Allowable expenditures for Title I and IIA
An understanding of IDEA services for students in your school
How state programs interface with federal programs

Date: Tuesday, January 26th, 2015

Time: 9:00 AM ET- 4:00 PM ET

Location: Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Catholic Center

1400 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46202

Presenter: Steve Perla

Steve Perla has more than 30 years experience in Catholic school education, including as a former director for the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education Consulting Initiative, Superintendent, teacher, and public policy advocate, and has served on numerous national Catholic school public policy and leadership committees. Steve has assisted over 150 Catholic schools and 50 (arch)diocesan Catholic School offices with strategic planning and decision-making in the areas of faith, development, academics, stewardship, and leadership.

In his leadership roles, Steve has successfully executed new Catholic school governance models, leveraged school assets to alleviate operational expenses, doubled federal fund allocations for the nation’s Catholic schools, and secured public policy support for a variety of educational services ranging from early education vouchers to special education services. He serves on the United States Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops Education Office’s Federal Legislation Advisory Group. Steve helped shaped and actively lobbied for vital changes in the most recent efforts to re-authorize the Elementary Secondary Education Act to benefit Catholic school students and educators. Steve has a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from Lesley University and a Masters of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College.

Presenter: Rev. Mr. Thomas Olson

Rev. Mr. Thomas Olson is a Transitional Deacon of the Archdiocese of Boston; he will be ordained to the Roman Catholic Priesthood in May 2016. During the past 12 years, Deacon Tom has served Catholic schools and institutions across the nation in a variety of roles, inclusive of teaching, mission and identity work, and

institutional advancement. In addition, Deacon Tom has led efforts to revitalize the “new evangelization” in parishes and Catholic schools. Currently, Deacon Tom is assigned to St. Columbkille Parish, at which there is a pre-K thru grade 8 Catholic school serving over 400 students.

In the past year, Deacon Tom has proffered consultative services to PACE (Parents Alliance for Catholic Education) and has also assisted with efforts to advance, for the benefit of Catholic school students and educators, the reauthorization of ESEA. Deacon Tom holds a B.A. in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross, a M.A. in Philosophy from St. Louis University, and a M.Div. from Boston College.

Presenter: Dana Long

Dana L. Long is the special education attorney and due process coordinator with the Indiana Department of Education, Office of Special Education. Ms. Long previously served the Department of Education as legal counsel and assistant director of the Office of Legal Affairs. Prior to coming to the Department in 1995, Ms. Long was legal counsel with Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services representing individuals with disabilities. Ms. Long also served as Referee with the Brown Circuit Court, presiding over small claims court, misdemeanors and class D felonies, and traffic court. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Long taught middle and high school math in northwest Indiana. She earned her B.S. and M.S degrees with a major in math, from the Indiana University School of Education, and her J.D. from Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1980.

Legislative Engagement Training

Please join us for the INPEA Legislative Engagement Training! This training call is for Legislative Liaisons and other members of the community who are interested in assisting INPEA and its legislative actions during the 2016 General Assembly. It is critical that Indiana's non-public schools are prepared to engage legislatively in support of schools and the many students who attend them. Legislative Liaisons and engaged members of the community are INPEA's grassroots network. These members and liaisons allow us to have a structure in place so the non-public school voice can be heard.

Help us be that voice for Indiana non-public schools at the Statehouse this legislative session!

Legislative Engagement Training Call

January 5th, 2016

2:00 PM ET- 3:30 PM ET

Join Online here

Meeting number: 805 160 770
Meeting password: MVs6xgSs