May 2010 Email Update
TANS Email Update-May 2010
Conference Scholarships for
TANS Members
iSummit 2010
The Coalition of Lighthouse Schools, sponsors of the iSummit 2010 conference on technology integration in independent schools (July 14-16 in Atlanta) is offering scholarships to schools who are affiliated with the Council on American Private Education (CAPE).
TANS is the Texas State CAPE chapter, so our members are eligible for this generous opportunity. (On the application, you can write in Texas State CAPE/TANS as your school's affiliation, if your school's association is not already listed.)
Scholarships cover hotel, meals, and membership in the Lighthouse Coalition.
Thanks To Our Corporate Sponsors
We appreciate our first-ever Corporate Sponsors, Way Services and Smart Tuition, for their financial support this year.
For more information about our Corporate Sponsors and their services, visit the Corporate Sponsors page on our website.
If you know of a firm that would be interested in becoming a Corporate Sponsor, contact Executive Director Charles Evans at tans@abouttans.org for more information about the program and its benefits.
Strategic Planning Update
On April 19-20, the TANS Board of Directors gathered at Concordia University in Austin to consider the next 18 to 36 months of advocacy for Texas private schools. Concordia President, Dr. Tom Cedel, facilitated the sessions, assisting the board as it considered the internal and external factors affecting the TANS mission and envisioned a vibrant, focused approach to executing on our mission.
A number of important perspectives were considered, especially those provided by our members who responded to the strategic survey earlier this spring. (For survey results, you can click here, then download the Excel file from the TANS Documents Library.)
TANS unique role as the advocate for all Texas private schools was affirmed, with a focus on three priorities:
Independence
Equity
Choice
It was evident as we examined the critical impact of Texas private schools, reflectd on our members' perspectives, and considered the threats to independence, equity, and choice that TANS must continue to expand in this role. One statistic stands out as an example of the need: of more than 800 accredited private schools in Texas, more than 600 are accredited by an organization that has no formal political activity in Texas (the Texas Catholic Conference is the only accrediting body actively representing the interests of its schools and is a generous, vital partner with TANS).
With the 2011 Legislative Session approaching, TANS is in the process of re-designing our advocacy strategy and defining a list of important issues to private schools on which we can approach legislators pro-actively. As that work progresses, we will keep you up to date and provide ways in which individual schools can assist in the effort.
More specific conclusions from the planning sessions will also be published in the coming months. We look forward to hearing from you as we serve your schools and the families in your communities.
What Good Are Private Schools, Anyway?
by Charles T. Evans, Executive Director
In an article published May 4 in the New York Times, researcher Charles Murray argues for the real benefit of non-public schools: choices for parents. This rings true with me. When I consider where my children should go to school, I'm not thinking merely about how they will compare on standardized tests. I want to know, as Murray asserts, that "[they will] be taught the content that I think they need to learn, in a manner that I consider appropriate."
The value of private schooling to parents is much more profound than anything that can be determined in a test score. Parents want their kids to be educated the right way. As those who have the most vital interest in their children, parents know best what that means. "Hence," Murray notes, "all the politicians who oppose [school choice] but send their own children to private schools."
Murray's argument reminds me of why private schools are so important to the citizens of Texas. Private schools broaden the educational experiences of Texas children, because they are free to teach what they consider important, in the manner they consider appropriate. Texas parents support private schools in such large numbers (about 300,000 students attend private schools at last count by the U.S. Department of Education), because private schools have this unique ability.
The effect on Texas is that hundreds of thousands of students are being educated in a multitude of ways that provide diversity and creativity to our collective public mind. Very few would argue that we do not need a strong public school system, even one that focuses on test scores as a criterion of quality. But good public schools are not enough. We also need the dynamic individualism of private schools shaping the lives of students on whom we will rely to make invaluable contributions to our state's future.
If you've ever wondered why TANS exists, this is the best argument I can give you. We are here to advocate for strong private schools. In doing that, though, we are advocates for all Texans and for an even more prosperous future.