The Education Commission of the States (ecs) has received a $50,000 grant from the National Institute of Education to examine the statutes affecting private education in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories.
Once compiled, the information will be stored in ecs’s computerized 50-state databank, from which the commission will be able to draw comparisons on particular items, such as state requirements for teacher and administrator certification and litigation involving state regulation of private schools.
Patricia M. Lines, director of the Law and Education Center of ecs, said state education officials, and possibly others, will have free access to the data, perhaps by August.
The project will be carried out with the cooperation of various public- and private-education officials who will review it for “accuracy and completeness,” Ms. Lines said.
ecs staff members will periodically update the information.
Ms. Lines said she became interested in the subject of state laws concerning private schools because more and more state officials have been asking ecs questions on the subject.
Conflicts between state education departments and religiously-affiliated private schools over various types of state regulations have moved into the courts in several states.--ah
