 November/December 2000 (XXXVIII 5) |
YM Education Programs surveyed the entire membership of the Yearly Meeting during the summer to ascertain our inclinations, needs and choices regarding the education of our children. A summary of the results of that survey was mailed as a supplement to this issue of PYM News.
Money available for creative outreach During fiscal year 1999-2000, the Membership Development Support Fund provided grants totaling $31,164 to seven Monthly Meetings and four Quarterly Meetings. The money comes from bequests left to the Yearly Meeting. The Membership Development Support Granting Group is making a plea for new, creative proposals from Meetings. To obtain a grant application, call PYM Grant Coordinator Carol Walz at 215-241-7201 or e-mail carolw@pym.org.
The summary reflects, by necessity, only the "tip of the iceberg" of the data gathered. Nonetheless, it provides a concise, accurate overview of the key findings. Information reflects responses from the 27% of PYM households that responded to this opportunity (a good rate of return for mail-in surveys). While this represents a minority of our membership, the findings will doubtless be of interest to all constituencies within the Yearly Meeting.
Completion of the Education Survey fulfills one of the key components of an eight-step "pilot project" on Friends children in Friends schools presented at PYM Annual Sessions in 1999. The pilot project was a direct outgrowth of the PYM "Covenant on Education," approved at those same sessions. With the support of the Chace Granting Group, the Friends Children in Friends Schools Project Group developed the Education Survey with the assistance of a consulting firm with experience helping other Quaker organizations.
Meetings are encouraged to consider the implications of the survey findings on their discernment of how to support families in getting the right education for their children. The Project Group plans to follow up on the survey in several ways:
- by engaging the leadership of the Friends schools in dialogue about ways to enhance the schools' affordability for Friends families;
- by approaching prospective leadership donors about their interest in providing significant support toward an endowment fund for tuition aid to Friends children in Friends schools; and
- by promoting threshing and discussion of educational priorities by Monthly and Quarterly Meetings in preparation for Residential Yearly Meeting July 17-22, 2001.
For further information on the survey results, call me at 215-241-7224 or e-mail tomh@pym.org.
Tom Hoopes
Central Philadelphia Meeting
PYM Coordinator of Education Programs
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM