During the course of a November 2, 2021 Zoom meeting with private school leaders, SSPI Thurmond committed to the creation of an advisory council on private education. Offering few details about the body’s composition and purposes, Mr. Thurmond hinted that its members would be drawn from both the private and public education sectors, and…

Can someone please explain what the policy makers at the U.S. Department of Education were thinking when they set the eligibility requirements for participation in the American Recovery Plan – Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools program? ARP-EANS is a federal emergency assistance program for which Congress appropriated $2.75 billion “…to provide services or assistance…

After a contentious battle that raged on for years (and according to some, decades) the California Legislature has passed, and Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill making completion of a semester-long course in ethnic studies a requirement for graduation from a public high school. The graduation requirement will take effect in the 2029-30…

With so much attention devoted to yesterday’s gubernatorial recall election, relatively few Californians are aware of efforts underway to place an ambitious and sure-to-be-controversial school choice initiative before the state’s voters in 2022. The proposed amendments to the state constitution would establish state-administered education savings accounts (ESAs) for every child eligible for enrollment…

On May 12, 2021, private schools throughout California received word, via an email sent from the California Department of Education, that their applications for federal Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS) funding had been approved. The notifications also revealed the amount of funding each school was eligible to receive in the form of services…