Marquette University Law School and Marquette University College of Education
Announce a Conference Supported by the Law School’s Lubar Fund for Public Policy Research
The Future of Catholic K–12 Education: National and Milwaukee Perspectives
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
7:45 a.m. – Noon
Ray and Kay Eckstein Hall
7:45 a.m. — Check-In Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:15 a.m. — Conference Begins
Session One: Margaret F. Brinig and Nicole Stelle Garnett “On the Issues with Mike Gousha”
Brinig and Garnett are Notre Dame Law School professors and the authors of Lost Classroom, Lost Community: Catholic Schools’ Importance in Urban America (2014), a book setting forth an empirical study concerning the effects of the widespread closings in the past two decades of Catholic elementary and secondary schools. In the description of the University of Chicago Press, the authors “demonstrate that the loss of Catholic schools triggers disorder, crime, and an overall decline in community cohesiveness, and suggest that new charter schools fail to fill the gaps left behind,” and the book “will have vital implications for both education and policing policy debates.”
9:30-9:45 a.m. — Break
Session Two: A View from the East Coast with Kathleen Porter-Magee and Andy Smarick
Porter-Magee is the superintendent and chief academic officer of the Partnership for Inner-City Education in New York City and has served as Senior Advisor for Policy and Instruction at The College Board and a Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. The Partnership is a network of inner-city Catholic elementary schools in Harlem and the South Bronx: the Partnership was granted broad authority in 2013 to offer educational, administrative, and operational services on behalf of these schools. This is the first time that an independent organization has been given the opportunity to manage a set of schools in the Archdiocese of New York.
Smarick is a partner at Bellwether Education Partners and previously served as deputy commissioner of education of the State of New Jersey and as deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, among other appointments. He is the author of The Urban School System of the Future: Applying the Principles and Lessons of Chartering (Roman and Littlefield Education 2012). His work specific to Catholic schools includes “Can Catholic Schools Be Saved?” in National Affairs (Spring 2011).
10:45-11 a.m. — Break
Session Three: Directions in Milwaukee—Panel Discussion Featuring Kathleen Cepelka, Laura Gutierrez, and Very Rev. Tim Kitzke
Cepelka is the superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and former associate dean in the Marquette University College of Education, having also held teaching and administrative positions in Catholic elementary and secondary schools over the course of a career spanning more than four decades.
Gutierrez became the K-8 principal at St. Anthony Catholic School in Milwaukee this year. She previously was the assistant principal and director of instruction at the United Community Center (Bruce Guadalupe School). She received her master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from Marquette University.
Kitzke is a member of the pastoral team serving various parishes in Milwaukee (Three Holy Women, Old St. Mary’s, Saints Peter and Paul’s, Our Lady of Divine Providence), the administrator of All Saints Parish, and a member of the corporate board of Catholic East Elementary School.
12 Noon — Conference Ends
The conference is complimentary but registration is required.
Questions? Contact Christine Wilczynski-Vogel, Law School Associate Dean for External Relations, Events, and Facilities or 414.288.3167 or Carol Dufek, Law School Events Coordinator or 414.288.6452
