Concern over state-level legislative and judicial activities involving the regulation of private schools has prompted the Independent Schools Association of the Central States to establish a network of representatives in each state to monitor developments.
Early conclusions that can be drawn from the information-gathering efforts of the network, reports Thomas Read, editor of the group’s newsletter, include these: the nonpublic-school sector in the Midwest has grown rapidly, and independent schools constitute only 1.9 percent of all such schools; “in general, more aid given private schools by the state means more regulation by the state"; in states where private schools have the most influence, it is because they coordinate their efforts; and “pressures in the states to control private schools will not decrease and will require continuing alertness.”
The network’s activities have also resulted in a chart recently sent to association members showing the status of state regulatory initiatives and private-school responses across the Central states.
The New Hampshire Association of School Principals is joining the administrators’ groups that have established their own foundations as a way of decreasing costs while expanding their fundraising capabilities. (See Associations Column, Education Week, March 16, 1983.)
The following organization, which a spokesman describes as “one of the largest independent general-membership education associations in the nation,” would like to make itself known to other readers of Education Week:
Association of Texas Professional Educators
411 West 13th St., Suite 700
Austin, Tex. 78701
(512) 478-2873
Mike Morrow--Executive Director
Sally Weidemann--President
The association was established in 1980 through the consolidation of two state education associations formed five years earlier when the Texas State Teachers Association affiliated with the National Education Association.
Among its activities, the association publishes a monthly magazine, the most recent issue of which featured an informative look at the national textbook industry and Texas’s prominent influence on it. A limited number of single copies is available; write Kevin D. Higgenbotham, advertising director, at the above address.
Kenneth J. Tewel, the principal of New York City’s distinguished Stuyvesant High School--which he calls “the finest high school in the nation"--is hunting for his alumni. The school, says Mr. Tewel, has formed a Stuyvesant High School Coalition “to mobilize the resources of our alumni” and is searching out those graduates across the nation. Send name, address, current status, and graduation year to him at the high school, 345 15th St., New York, N.Y. 10003.--mm
