Conference Call Tomorrow, a Prayer Request and the Sky Country Showdown

May 3, 2018
UP NEXT ON THE SECRETARIAT'S CALENDAR...

May 2-3rd - American Federation for Children Policy Summit, Washington, DC including our first ever Catholic Educators Networking Reception & Breakfast
May 7th - FACC Conference Call
May 18th - Sister John Mary's last day at the USCCB
June 4th - Deadline for NCEA 2019 Proposals
June 12th - Jennifer presents on Federal Education programs for Native American Students before the USCCB Subcommittee on Native American Affairs, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
June 14-15th - USCCB Spring Assembly, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
June 22-29 - Religious Freedom Week
August 14-17 - Meeting of Catholic Conference Education Directors, St. Paul, MN

Prayers Request
The Committee on Catholic Education's Chairman, Bishop George Murry of Youngstown, OH has been diagnosed with Leukemia. 
He was admitted to the hospital last weekend and began treatments. Please keep Bishop Murry in your prayers .

Follow up from the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
AKA "The recent Budget Bill"
The  Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 , was signed into law in March and included some significant items that affect students and teachers in private schools. We will continue to be on the look out for announcements about the release of grants or new program opportunities. Please have the following on your radar:
  • Title II-A (professional development grants.) You should be seeing a boost in your per pupil allocation from your LEA
  • STOP School Violence Act, which extends to private schools. There will be two grants coming out of the Department of Justice supporting school safety.
    • $50m will be under the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) 
    • $25m under the COPS program.
    • We are still awaiting details on this grant process. We anticipate information will be posted here in the coming days or weeks.
  • Title IV -A Student Support and Academic Achievement State Grants - The bill includes $1.1 billion, $700 million above the fiscal year 2017 level, for grants that provide flexible funds to states and school districts, including to expand school-based mental health services and supports; for bullying prevention; and for professional development for personnel in crisis management and school-based violence prevention strategies. This is a significant increase of funds. You should be consulting with your LEA on their grant applications moving forward.
Conference Call Tomorrow
(Consolidated Appropriations Act cont'd)
  • Disaster Relief -- $2.7B of new money was allocated for relief in states affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and the fires in California. There are two different pots of money.
    • RESTART Program - operations assistance to schools who had to close due to damage. The Department of Education just released FAQs which may be helpful to you.
    • Tuition Impact Aid for Displaced students - The U.S. Department of Education (Department) invites you to participate in a conference call to discuss the Temporary Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students (Emergency Impact Aid) and Assistance for Homeless Children and Youth programs authorized under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.  The call is scheduled for Friday, May 4, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (call-in details below).  The purpose of this call is to provide an overview of the two programs and the State application processes.  Chief State School Officers and National and State Private School Leaders have been invited to participate in this call. 
 
Participants are encouraged to review the resources available on the Department's Disaster Relief website prior to the call.
 
Call Details
Date :  Friday, May 4
Time :  1-2 PM Eastern Time
Call-In # :  1-888-810-3140
Passcode :  1745298
 
Note : It is recommended that State staff have the SEA application forms located on the Disaster Relief website available for reference during the call. 
 
If you have any questions about either of these programs that you would like addressed during the call, please submit them in advance to [email protected] or [email protected].

Council for American Private Education - May Outlook
In a case carrying significant consequences for school choice, the Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 6 on whether the state's tax credit scholarship program is permitted to exclude benefits for families choosing religious schools. The high-profile case involves a web of constitutional clauses, including the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution and, of course, the state's Blaine Amendment. 

Read more about the case and its national implications in the May issue of CAPE Outlook .

Also in the May Outlook:  
  • NAEP Scores Flat
  • Crime Rates Down
  • Miss Virginia
  • National Awards
Let's Connect so we can Work Together!
We know many dioceses have designated staff who watch, advocate or implement federal education programs and grants in your schools. We would like to make sure we know who you (or they) are! Please click below to fill out the form for your diocese so we can be in touch. We have had 22 responses so far! Fill out our quick form today!
 

Grab your tissues....
May 18th is Sister John Mary's last day as Executive Director of the Secretariat for Education at the USSCB. She is returning to the Dominican Motherhouse in Nashville Tennessee to take up apostolic duties in her community. 

I would like to take this opportunity to say how grateful I am that I got to work for her and learn from her in so many ways for even 6 months. She is a model of grace, joy and expertise in her field. She will be greatly missed! And no, an announcement about her replacement has not yet been made. Interviews are being scheduled, so there's still time to throw your hat in the ring...

That's all I've got for now. Please let me know what you are working on, what is going well in your state, organization or project, and drop me a line or give me a call any time so we can share ideas and work together!

All the best,
Jennifer

USCCB Secretariat of Catholic Education  | 202-541-3148  | [email protected] | http://tinyurl.com/CatholicEdPolicy


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