Please be advised that APEA Elections for your Executive Committee and Representative Council will be held on Monday, March 2, 2009. All information has been sent out to every respective building.
There have been some complaints lodged in Trenton about how this will be conducted. Our Chair, Johnny Grasso, is an extremely competent, trustworthy and honest member of our Association. He is going to conduct these elections in the most transparent way. NJEA Representatives will also be in attendance while the counting of the ballots takes place.
If there are any questions that relate to this election, please contact Johnny at the High School directly.
Good luck to all the candidates!!!

Duncan Urged To Make Stimulus Dispersal Transparent. An editorial in the Christian Science Monitor (2/23) admonishes Education Secretary Arne Duncan to ensure that the $115 billion allocated to education programs in the economic stimulus bill is transparent, “clear, and precise.” Mr. Duncan has little say over” roughly $61 billion for “specific programs such as Pell Grants for college students, schools serving disadvantaged kids, Head Start, and technology in the classroom.” The $54, million “discretionary ‘stabilization fund,” however, “holds the greatest potential for misdirection,” according to the Monitor. The stabilization fund is “meant to protect against layoffs and budget cuts at a time when states face disappearing revenues,” and Duncan has great latitude regarding how this portion of the funding is dispersed. His “challenge will be in the choosing and the tracking of the recipients” of those funds, the Monitor concludes.

In the Classroom
Class-Size Reduction Benefits May Be Overstated, Some Researchers Say. The New York Times (2/23, A29, Medina) reports that “alarms went off in New York and California last week, as officials on both coasts warned that yawning budget gaps could soon mean more children in each classroom.” And even though “class size is considered as fundamental to education as the three R’s” to many, some education experts and researchers “say that small reductions in the number of students in a room often have little effect on their performance.” University of Washington Education Professor Dan Goldhaber, for instance, said that “the obsession with class size stemmed from a desire for ‘something that people can grasp easily,’” but added that teachers are the most important factor in predicting student achievement.

Stimulus Spending On Education Poses Challenge For Duncan. On its front page, the New York Times (2/17, A1, Dillon) reports that “the $100 billion in emergency aid for public schools and colleges in the economic stimulus bill” could transform Arne Duncan into an exceptional figure in the history of federal education policy: a secretary of education loaded with money and the power to spend large chunks of it as he sees fit.” But “the money also poses challenges and risks for Mr. Duncan,” who must “develop procedures on the fly for disbursing [the] budget,” and “communicate the rules quickly to all 50 states and the nation’s 14,000 school districts.”

According to the Washington Post (2/14, Glod, A11), “over two years, the stimulus will funnel $53.6 billion to states to prevent cutbacks and layoffs and modernize schools.” And, “An additional $25 billion will be dedicated for public school students who are disabled or in poverty.”

The Los Angeles Times (2/13, Mehta) added that “more than $12 billion is included for special education, and $13 billion for the schools that serve the nation’s neediest children. Money is also set aside for state student-data systems, teacher-quality grants, education technology, Head Start preschools and other programs.”

Education Week (2/13, Klein, McNeil) noted that “The final level of education aid in the bill is a middle ground between the roughly $80 billion for education in the Senate version of the measure and the $140 billion approved by the House last month.” As such, it “includes lower levels of funding in the state fiscal-stabilization fund and smaller amounts for special education and education technology than in earlier versions.” The Baltimore Sun (2/17, Bowie), the Providence Journal (2/17, Mulligan), the Virginian-Pilot (2/17, Fiske), the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2/15, Sheinin), Alabama’s Dothan Eagle (2/17), and the Missourian (2/17) covered the impact that the federal stimulus legislation is expected to have on education in their respective states.

To: My Fellow Brothers and Sisters of the APEA
From: Johnny Grasso, Election Chair
Re: Elections
Date: February 18, 2009

The following APEA Members are running for office:

President: John Napolitani, Ronald Gambrell, and Peter Vetrano

Vice President: Sean Hamilton and Joyel Fergus

Treasurer (uncontested): Gena Proctor (Congratulations and make us proud Gena!)

Corresponding Secretary: Paul Murphy and John Venino

Recording Secretary (uncontested): Mike Zajac (Congratulations and make us proud Mike!)

At Large – Maintenance/Custodial/Cafeteria (uncontested): John Kostecki (Congratulations and make us proud John!)

At Large – Paraprofessionals (uncontested): Regina Jagoo (Congratulations and make us proud Regina!)

At Large – Secretarial/Security: Annette Rios, Ruben Bray, Victory Durden and Anthony Mason

The following APEA Members are running for Building Representatives:

Thurgood Marshall: Regina Jagoo April Garden, Donna Puryear, Marlena Bryant-Tirell, Regina Jagoo,
A.P.H.S.: Tony Mallory, Don Cleaves, Pedro Morales, Mike Zajac, Paul Murphy (Vote for 4)

Bradley: Laura Duffy, Deborah Burns, Maureen Casey, Sean Hamilton, and Doug Cobb (Vote for 3)

Bangs: Joann Dunst, Victory Durden, Margaret Watkins, John Venino, Annette Rios (Vote for 3)

I.T.C.: Barbara Shafer

Alt. Middle School: Casey Miles

**No one put in to be a Building Representative in the Middle School, Annex, and Board
This year’s elections will be held on Monday, March 2, 2009. Information is forthcoming.
Thank you for your time and good luck to everyone running.

The deadline to file for the Executive Committee and Representative Council elections has come.

Good luck to all the candidates that have filed to run for any position.
Johnny Grasso will be putting out a notification early next week with the candidates and the date of the election.

TO: School Employees’ Health Benefits Program Participating Local Education
Employers
FROM: New Jersey School Employees’ Health Benefits Program
SUBJECT: SEHBP Special Open Enrollment — Local Education Employers
The State Health Benefits Commission, at its December 11, 2008 meeting, voted to
approve the following changes to benefits under the School Employees’ Health Benefits
Program:
• Allows for the coordination of benefits (COB) between NJ DIRECT10 and NJ
DIRECT15. Previous to this decision, there was no COB between the two
plans. • A change to NJ DIRECT10 that allows the copayments a member makes to innetwork
providers to count toward the in-network out-of-pocket maximum. Previously the copayments were applied toward the in-network out-of-pocket
maximum, however the member was required to continue to pay the
copayment after the maximum was reached. Now the member will be
reimbursed at the end of the year for any copayments paid above the innetwork
out-of-pocket maximums. • A transition program for members enrolled in NJ DIRECT10 that limits the
annual out-of-network out-of-pocket eligible expenses a member pays to
Horizon contracted providers who are not in the NJ DIRECT network to $400
after a $100 deductible per individual. Once the transition program ends on
December 31, 2009, the annual out-of-network out-of-pocket maximum for
these providers will revert to $2,000 after a $100 deductible per individual. The Commission approved a Special Open Enrollment to allow members to change
medical plans. The Special Open Enrollment period will begin on February 1, 2009 and
end on February 28, 2009. All plan changes made during this open enrollment will be
effective on May 1, 2009. Please Note: This Special Open Enrollment will only allow members to change medical
plans. Members will not be permitted to add dependents or make any changes to dental
or prescription drug coverage.

At their January 28 and January 29 respective meetings, the School Employees’ Health Benefits Commission (SEHBC) and the State Health Benefits Commission (SHBC) approved enhancements to the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP).

The highlights of the enhancements are as follows:

NETWORK

The Commissions approved a transition period retroactive to April 1, 2008, and ending on December 31, 2009. During this transition period, out-of-pocket charges from Horizon-contracted providers who are not in the Direct 10 network will be limited to $500 per covered person. After the transition period, the out-of-pocket maximum for all out-of-Direct 10-network doctors will revert back to the $2,000/individual and $5,000/family Direct 10 maximums.

COORDINATION OF BENEFITS

The Commissions approved coordination of benefits between the Direct 10 and Direct 15 plans. Those members currently covered by both plans will have their coordination of benefits retroactively calculated to April 1, 2008. To receive those retroactive reimbursements, members must send their E.O.B. (Explanation of Benefits) forms to Horizon. A special open enrollment will be offered for active members for the purpose of switching plans to take advantage of this coordination. Any active member that elects a new medical plan during this open enrollment will have their new insurance plan and coordination of benefits go into effect May 1, 2009. The open enrollment period will be:

Ø February 1, 2009 through February 28, 2009

Boards of Education will receive a letter from the Division of Pensions announcing this special open enrollment (See attached). Any member wishing to make a change must go through their respective board office.

Comic Books Gaining Popularity Among Teachers As Learning Tool. Education Week (2/10, Viadero) reports, “Once fuel for mass book burnings, comic books are gaining a foothold in the nation’s schools, with teachers seeing them as a learning tool and scholars viewing them as a promising subject for educational research.” According to James “Bucky” Carter, an assistant professor of English education at the University of Texas at El Paso, several studies “suggest that students who read comics go on to read more, and to read more varied literature.” The studies also suggest “that educators are using the medium for a variety of purposes, including as a bridge to full literacy for English-language learners and struggling readers; a tool for discussing sensitive social issues; a subject for lessons on visual literacy,” among other things. Nevertheless, some educators still “see the books as ‘subliterature.’”

In the Classroom
Metro Denver School District Eliminates Grade Levels In Bid To Boost Student Performance. The Christian Science Monitor (2/10, Paulson) reports, “School districts across the US are trying to improve student performance and low test scores. But few have taken as radical an approach as Adams 50,” in Colorado. According to the Monitor, when Adams 50 “elementary and middle-school students come back next fall, there won’t be any grade levels — or traditional grades, for that matter.” Students “younger than eighth grade” will not be placed in a traditional grade-level. The “district plans to phase in the reform through high school a year at a time.

Minnesota Voluntary Performance-Pay Program Said To Be On “Right Track.”
The AP (2/3, Dunbar) reports, “looking at whether to expand Minnesota’s voluntary program that links teacher pay with performance will soon have two new reports analyzing how the program is doing.” On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Education released an analysis by independent research firm Hezel Associates, LLC, which shows that “Q Comp is on the right track.” Furthermore, The Office of the Legislative Auditor plans “to release its report on Q Comp Tuesday morning. … That report will compare districts that participate in the program with districts that don’t.” Q Comp sets “up a pay structure that rewards performance,” and “includes professional development and evaluation components for teachers in the participating districts.” According to the AP, the education department’s “report couldn’t statistically link Q Comp to greater student achievement, but the analysis said teachers in the program seem to have more support when it comes to their roles in improving achievement.”

In the Classroom
Solar Academy Program Teaches Elementary Students About Renewable Energy. In the New York Times’ (2/2) Green Inc. blog, Jared Flesher wrote, “Employees of the Sharp Electronics Corporation were at Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Mahwah, N.J., recently to teach a lesson on climate change and renewable energy.” The company “Sharp began its Solar Academy program in the United States in October 2008 and so far has presented it at a handful of elementary schools in California (near the company’s solar division in Huntington Beach), and in New York and New Jersey.” The presentations include discussions about renewable energy, and solar panels.

Sixth-Graders At California School Learn Money Management By Earning Salaries, Paying Taxes. The Modesto Bee (1/29, Hatfield) reports that Jamie Garner’s sixth-grade class at Walnut Elementary School “is one of several ‘minisocieties’ in Turlock schools. Every one of Garner’s 30 students has a job, earns a salary, gets bonuses (for such things as keeping a clean desk), earns fines (for things like talking during lessons) and pays taxes.” Garner’s “students fill out ledgers, practicing their addition, subtraction and decimals. They also learn why they should keep track and save their mock money.” According to the Modesto Bee, “The U.S. recession is providing a surplus of current events that help teachers relate economic, math or government lessons to students. The topic has come up in most high school classes, from English to science,” according to teachers.

In the Classroom
Students At Two Schools In Massachusetts Use PlayStation Portables For Reading, Math. Massachusetts’s The Patriot Ledger (1/29, McCarthy) reports that “at the Joseph Osgood and Deer Hill elementary schools in Cohasset, a new type of video-game system is not only welcome in the classroom, it’s being used to help children learn.” The schools “have begun using an interactive video-game program called Achieve Now by Plato Learning,” which “uses animated characters, color, and music to help students with reading, language arts, and math.” Each school has 25 PlayStation Portables that “are used once a week by students in grades one through five.” The Patriot Ledger adds that “The program was paid for by a state educational grant and included the interactive software, school and home learning activities, teacher materials, professional development and student assessment.”

Dual-Language Program Will Be Offered To Kindergartners At Schools In Illinois District.