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Nanette Shaw
Benno Schmidt is Keynote Speaker Frank Macchiarola to Receive Award Education leaders will explore the issues of collaboration and competition between public and nonpublic schools at a forthcoming conference to be held at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York. The morning keynote address will be delivered by Benno Schmidt, chairman of the Edison Project, a private company that runs public schools for profit. Titled "Public and Nonpublic Schools: Collaboration and Competition," the conference will be held on November 18 at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York. This year's gathering takes up a critical issue at a time when the relationship between public and nonpublic schools is in dynamic upheaval. The advent of charter schools, new standards and accountability, and immigrant needs in New York State, as well as the call for vouchers and public aid to parochial schools in other states, are causing educators to probe the matter of how public and nonpublic schools can work together or supplement one another and yet remain distinct and responsive. The conference is chaired by Dr. Seymour Lachman. Lachman founded the conference in 1974 at The Graduate Center when he was President of the New York City Board of Education. He is now a New York State Senator, serving as the ranking Democrat on the Higher Education Committee and as a member of the Education Committee. In addition to his work with the Edison Project, Schmidt is Vice Chairman of the CUNY Board of Trustees and recently chaired the Mayor's Task Force on CUNY. Among other key findings, the Task Force report focused on the need to improve the education of the city's K-12 students. Sponsored by The New York Collaborative of Public and Nonpublic Schools, this is the 26th Annual Conference of Public and Nonpublic Schools. Other featured participants will include Dr. Gail Foster, President of the Toussaint Institute; Dr. Catherine Hickey, Superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York; Terri Thomson, Member of the New York City Board of Education; and Dr. Frank J. Macchiarola, President of St. Francis College and a former New York City Schools Chancellor. Previous conferences have dealt with such topics as noninstructional services for children; bilingual education; desegregation; special education; parents and schools; and numerous other topics central to public and nonpublic education. In addition, past Public and Nonpublic Schools Conferences have had a major impact on the formulation of state and city policy. The 1996 conference, for example, led to the Education Reform Act of 1996, which was the first complete overhaul of New York City School Governance since 1969. Furthermore, notes David Bloomfield, Co-Chairman of The New York Collaborative of Public and Nonpublic Schools and Professor of Educational Administration at Brooklyn College, the conference is likely to have an impact at the national level since the Collaborative is a flagship organization for others like it around the country. He also notes that education officials from Washington, D.C., will be in attendance. The Graduate Center is the doctorate-granting institution of the largest urban university in the U.S. The only consortium of its kind in the nation, The Graduate Center draws its faculty of more than 1,600 members mainly from the CUNY senior colleges and cultural and scientific institutions throughout New York City. Established in 1961, The Graduate Center has grown to an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students in 31 doctoral programs and seven master's degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The Graduate Center also houses 24 research centers and institutes and administers the CUNY Baccalaureate Program. According to a recent National Research Council report, more than a third of The Graduate Center's rated programs rank among the nation's top 20, nearly a quarter are among the top ten when compared to publicly supported institutions alone, and more than half are among the top five programs at publicly supported institutions in the northeast. Twenty-Sixth Annual Conference of Public and Nonpublic Schools Public and Nonpublic Schools: Collaboration and Competition November 18, 1999 Ninth Floor Conference Center The Graduate Center, The City University of New York 365 Fifth Avenue Program Registration: 9:00 a.m. Morning Session: 9:30 - 12:00 p.m. Opening Remarks: 9:30 a.m. Dr. Seymour P. Lachman, Conference Chairman Welcome: 9:45 a.m. Dr. Frances Degen Horowitz President, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York Keynote Address: 10:00 a.m. Hon. Benno Schmidt Vice Chairman, The City University of New York Board of Trustees Panel Discussion/Audience Questions and Answers: 10:30 a.m. David Bloomfield, Esq., Conference Moderator, Co-Chairman Panelists Dr. Gail Foster President, Toussaint Institute Dr. Catherine Hickey Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Hon. Terri Thomson Member, New York City Board of Education Dr. Lester Young Superintendent, Community School District 13 Luncheon: 12:00 -1:00 p.m. Afternoon Session: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Welcome Dr. Seymour P. Lachman Conference Chairman Greetings Rev. Msgr. Guy J. Puglisi Superintendent of Schools, Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn David Zwiebel, Esq. Director of Government Affairs, Agudath Israel of America Michelle Bowdden Assistant Treasurer, United Federation of Teachers Presentation of The New York City Collaborative of Public and Nonpublic Schools Educatorof the Year Award to Dr. Frank J. Macchiarola Dr. Seymour P. Lachman Award Address Dr. Frank J. Macchiarola President, St. Francis College |