Survey Results

"Mr. Secretary, we sincerely appreciate the opportunities the No Child Left Behind Act extends to private school students, teachers and other personnel, but a recent CAPSO survey suggests that half of our schools are not being consulted in a timely and meaningful manner." With that introduction, CAPSO President Robert A. Teegarden invited U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige to take a hard look at the ways state departments of education are enforcing provisions of the law relating to private schools.

Secretary Paige promised to investigate the matter. The exchange took place on March 11, 2003, at a meeting sponsored by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE), in Washington DC. Mr. Teegarden attended the meeting together with CAPSO Executive Director, Dr. Ron Reynolds. The CAPSO representatives also presented the findings of a recently conducted CAPSO internet survey on No Child Left Behind consultation to Mr. Jack Klenk and Dr. Maureen Dowling of the USDE's Office of Non-Public Education.

Secretary Paige offered warm words of congratulations to America's private schools, noting that "Monopolies don't work," and intoning the belief that "there is no more powerful a tool for education reform than an informed parent with options." The secretary underscored the importance of the autonomy that is one of the hallmarks of private education when he noted, "Private schools are free—not only to teach Johnny how to count, but to teach Johnny what counts."