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MN CAPE

Private K-12 schools have a significant impact on education in Minnesota, yet their power has usually been limited to the classroom. Religious and nonsectarian schools can belong to two dozen accrediting or other education associations, each with slightly different policy goals. There has been no single voice to speak on behalf of private K-12 education in Minnesota until now with the creation of the Minnesota Council for American Private Education (MN CAPE) www.cape.org.

Seven member education organizations have signed on to work collaboratively in representing nonpublic education to policymakers and regulators. The founding organizations are the Association of Christian Schools International, Islamic Schools League, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Minnesota Association of Independent Schools, Minnesota Catholic Conference, Minnesota Independent School Forum and the Minnesota Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Together, these seven associations represent 350 schools or nearly two-thirds of Minnesota’s private schools.

MN CAPE is a coalition of independent and private school associations dedicated to fostering communication and cooperation within the private school community and with the public sector to improve the quality of education for private school students. The coalition has agreed on three core goals, beginning with promoting the vital role of private schools in Minnesota and their significant contributions to the common good and benefit to the state. The second goal is to ensure the rights of parents to educate their children at the school they choose, as set out by the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally, the coalition encourages excellence and pluralism in education and promotes the rights of private schools to fulfill their unique missions.

"Private schools now have a strong voice in the policy arena,” noted James B. Field, president of MISF and coordinator of MN CAPE. “The private school community is as divergent as the students it serves, but today it will be able to speak with a united voice on important issues and represent the best interests of the children it educates,” he adds.

MN CAPE membership is open to school associations, individual schools, accrediting organizations and adjunct members from the education community. Modeled after the national Council for American Private Education association, the group requires unanimous agreement of its members on policy positions. MN CAPE will work at the state level to address issues that affect private schools, students and families, such as the state education tax credit and deduction. Supporting national policy efforts, led by CAPE, will also be part of MN CAPE’s agenda.

The Minnesota Independent School Forum manages the day-to-day operations and represents the organization to the national CAPE board and other state affiliates. MISF has informally represented Minnesota nationally at CAPE for 10 years, and the newly instituted MN CAPE creates ongoing dialog in the private K-12 community on policy and regulatory issues. Presently, MISF President Jim Field sits on the national CAPE board of trustees, representing the nation’s 31 state CAPEs.