Representin’! ISLA @ CAPE in DC

By Shaza Khan, Executive Director, ISLA

In the Room Where It Happens!

Having a seat at the table means we are “in the room where it happens” (attn: Hamilton fans!)…  and Alhumdulillah, ISLA is grateful to be a member of the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) for this very reason!

During CAPE board meetings, weekly Zoom meetings, and emails from CAPE members, ISLA participates in important dialogue with national private school leaders and advocates. ISLA’s continuous engagement allows us to remain abreast of federal legislation and current issues impacting private schools across the nation, and to represent Islamic schools’ needs and values. We further work with the diverse private school leaders to ensure equitable services are sought for Islamic schools and to help disseminate important information and resources to our constituents (i.e. you!).

SPRING CAPE MEETING

On March 13-14, 2022, I traveled to Washington, D.C. to represent Islamic schools at the CAPE biannual meeting. It was the first professional meeting to which I traveled since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it felt amazing to be in-person to discuss rich and important topics pertaining to private education in the United States!

To help disseminate information gained from the meeting, I created the report, shared at the bottom of this blog post, which includes detailed information from the session on implications of federal financial aid for private schools. I highly recommend that everyone read this, and that you reach out if you would like ISLA to facilitate a webinar with one of the lawyers for deeper understanding into the issue!

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona Visits CAPE Board Members

Another highlight of the meeting was the visit from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. He gave some uplifting and supportive remarks about private education in the United States. 

INCOMING CAPE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE TO ISLAMIC SCHOOL LEADERS

While I was at the CAPE meeting, I interviewed the incoming President of CAPE, Drew Smith, asking him to share what value he feels ISLA brings to the table as a board member of CAPE. Watch his 1-minute video below:

 

Being a member of CAPE is not free. It costs a substantial amount of money to be a member of the organization and to travel to D.C. twice a year. We are only able to maintain our membership due to the generous support of our member schools, organizations and donors.

More Representation, Alhumdulillah!

It was also really nice to spend time with CISNA’s executive director, Sufia Azmat, and superintendent Habeeb Quadri, who was representing the Illinois Coalition of Nonpublic Schools.

 

We look forward to sharing more news from CAPE as we learn about it and as pertains to the important work of our Islamic school leaders and educators.

RESOURCES

ISLA’S SPRING CAPE REPORT

SLIDE DECKS

Who’s Afraid of School Choice?

COVID Learning Recovery