Jennie Kampf is in the second of a three-year term as Treasurer for MANSEF. Ms. Kampf, who is the Aspire Elementary/Middle & Secondary Program Director at Ivymount School, has a master’s in education, is a licensed behavior analyst, and is a first-year doctoral student at the George Washington University in the Special Education and Disabilities program. Now in her 18th year working at Ivymount, she began as an ABA instructor in the Endeavors program and held many positions across the Endeavors, Aspire, and Ivymount Outreach programs.
We caught up with Ms. Kampf to ask about the importance of MANSEF and what goals the organization has achieved recently.
What is MANSEF and what work do you do with it on behalf of Ivymount School and our families?
The Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) is a non-profit organization comprised of 70 nonpublic special education schools and facilities. MANSEF unites these educators, professionals, and parents to advocate for quality services for students and youth with disabilities.
As Treasurer on the board of MANSEF, I attend monthly meetings with other board members to discuss ongoing business, new business, legislative updates, special events, and more. There are then quarterly membership meetings where representatives from all MANSEF schools attend for updates, discussion, and sharing of resources. The MANSEF board also works closely with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) throughout the school year regarding policies and procedures at all MANSEF schools.
Can you describe a recent significant achievement on behalf of special education teachers?
A recent accomplishment of MANSEF was to work closely with Maryland state legislators to advocate for certified teachers in nonpublic schools to receive salary parity to their public school counterparts. This accomplishment was many years in the making, and we are grateful to Delegates Korman, Cardin, Guyton, Henson, Pasteur, and Reznik for sponsoring the Teacher Pay Parity Act. MANSEF advocacy, along with the testimony of many teachers and families, helped to bring this issue to light and lead to the passing of legislation.
Why are you passionate about advocating for your colleagues in special education?
MANSEF works to minimize disparities for our teachers, staff, and students to ensure they have the same access and opportunities as public school students. I am very passionate about advocating to MSDE and our state government regarding the rights of our teachers and staff. We provide such important and needed programming for the special education community, it is critical the teachers and staff are as valued, if not more valued than their public school counterparts. By ensuring these considerations, rights and support we can then in turn ensure the best quality of programming for our students and families. Our Ivymount community deserves this and flourishes due to it.
