URGENT NOTICE FROM THE APEA

TO: ALL 12-MONTH MEMBERS OF APEA

FROM: JOHN NAPOLITANI, PRESIDENT

RE: MR. COWELL CORRESPONDENCE – SUMMER HOURS

DATE: JUNE 26, 2009

You are all in receipt of the Mark Cowell version of what occurred pertaining to the summer hours, which were on again then off again due to APEA leadership.
His intentions are very clear – “that he has tried to come to an agreement with the leadership of the APEA only to be told – no way.” This is a pure falsehood and this is why we are at mediation in negotiations with the Board.
The issue of summer hours was arrived at last year for a one-year agreement. This was made completely known to Mr. Cowell last year, this year, in writing, and in meetings with him. Yet he never responded. The only summer hours schedule within our contract, Article XV, has been in the contract for over 25 years, and is only for secretaries and not anyone else.
Mr. Cowell is the same person who cut 62 members’ positions within the district and the same monitor who abolished the cafeteria unit, parent liaisons, technology coordinators and has made it perfectly clear that other units will follow, such as custodians, maintenance, and security guards. Mr. Cowell’s only role in this district is to divide and conquer, pit member against member, and dissolve this Association until we will be at each other.
That is his intent and goal and not to offer any member benefit. We are being advised fully by the NJEA, as Mr. Cowell is now union busting.

The below notice is for all 12 month APEA members in response to Mark “The Czar” Cowell’s letter to the staff.

TO: ALL 12-MONTH MEMBERS OF APEA

FROM: JOHN NAPOLITANI, PRESIDENT

RE: MR. COWELL CORRESPONDENCE – SUMMER HOURS

DATE: JUNE 26, 2009

You are all in receipt of the Mark Cowell version of what occurred pertaining to the summer hours, which were on again then off again due to APEA leadership.
His intentions are very clear – “that he has tried to come to an agreement with the leadership of the APEA only to be told – no way.” This is a pure falsehood and this is why we are at mediation in negotiations with the Board.
The issue of summer hours was arrived at last year for a one-year agreement. This was made completely known to Mr. Cowell last year, this year, in writing, and in meetings with him. Yet he never responded. The only summer hours schedule within our contract, Article XV, has been in the contract for over 25 years, and is only for secretaries and not anyone else.
Mr. Cowell is the same person who cut 62 members’ positions within the district and the same monitor who abolished the cafeteria unit, parent liaisons, technology coordinators and has made it perfectly clear that other units will follow, such as custodians, maintenance, and security guards. Mr. Cowell’s only role in this district is to divide and conquer, pit member against member, and dissolve this Association until we will be at each other.
That is his intent and goal and not to offer any member benefit.

Duncan: Portion Of “Race To The Top” Funds Will Help Develop Assessments.

The AP (6/14, Pope, Quaid) reported that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan “is offering federal cash incentives to achieve one of his priorities: developing national standards for reading and math to replace a current hodgepodge of benchmarks in the states.” Duncan “said Sunday that the efforts of 46 states to develop common, internationally measured standards for student achievement would be bolstered by up to $350 million in federal funds to help them develop tests to assess those standards. Duncan made the announcement Sunday in suburban Cary at a conference for education experts and 20 governors hosted by the National Governors Association and the James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy.” The AP (6/15) also covers this story in a separate report.

Alyson Klein wrote in a blog posting for Education Week (6/14) that ED “will use a portion of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund to help states work on developing assessments, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told governors in North Carolina tonight. They were gathered for an education symposium sponsored by the National Governors Association and the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy.” Though the “details are still being worked out,” Duncan “said $350 million of the $4.35 billion in Race to the Top money set aside for states will go to the project.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie has told the 200,000-member New Jersey Education Association that he is not interested in seeking its endorsement.
In a letter to NJEA President Joyce Powell, Christie refused an invitation to participate in NJEA’s gubernatorial candidate endorsement screening process this weekend. Powell expressed her disappointment in Christie’s unwillingness to participate in a constructive dialogue about educational issues in New Jersey.
In a statement, Powell said: “It is unfortunate that Mr. Christie is unwilling to take the time to have an honest discussion about educational issues with the organization that represents the overwhelming majority of the state’s educators. It is also unfortunate that the Republican standard-bearer has chosen to break his party’s long-standing tradition of candid discussion and direct communication with NJEA.”

NJEA represents more than 200,000 teachers, education support professionals, higher education staff, and retired educators in New Jersey.

More Students Receiving Free School Lunches.
The CBS Evening News (6/11, story 11, 0:15, Couric) reported, “A new report says more than 16 million school kids get free lunches in this recession. That’s up more than six percent in a year. The cost to taxpayers, about $50 million.”

USA Today (6/11, Eisler, Weise) reported, “Nearly 20 million children now receive free or reduced-price lunches in the nation’s schools, an all-time high, federal data show, and many school districts are struggling to cover their share of the meals’ rising costs.” Data from the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) show that, “through February, nationwide enrollment in free school lunch programs was up 6.3% over the same time last year,” and “demand in some states has climbed at an even greater rate: Enrollment in free lunch programs jumped almost 17% in California, and several states – Arizona, New Jersey, Utah and Vermont – also saw more than 10% growth.” FNS Administrator Julie Paradis said that “many new enrollees are believed to be first-timers from families hit by the recession.” While “the federal government pays schools $2.57 for each free lunch served,” the School Nutrition Association says “the average food and labor cost for each meal is about $2.92.”

In the Classroom
California School Suggests Motivation Is Key To Helping At-Risk Students.
In a front-page story, the San Francisco Chronicle (6/11, A1, Tucker) reports that Palo Alto’s Eastside College Preparatory School is “a Cinderella story with an academic record any school, public or private, would envy.” It “shows one way to set at-risk students squarely on the academic path to success, closing the seemingly unmovable achievement gap between poor and often minority students and their white, Asian and wealthier peers.” Founded without a building, for the last decade it’s “had a 100 percent graduation rate, with every graduate heading to four-year colleges.” While “the admission process is selective,” it’s based on motivation, not grades or test scores. However, “public schools will have a hard time following Eastside’s recipe for success,” as the school receives donations of $17,000 per year for each child to pay for the program. Still, Phil Halperin, president of the Silver Giving Foundation, which has helped fund the school for the past 10 years, said that “a key is believing that the students can make it, and that’s part of the recipe public schools can follow.” He added, “It takes a really dedicated staff.” The school’s “teachers earn $45,000 to $90,000 annually, on par with public school salaries.”

LAST CHANCE TO PURCHASE TICKETS IS MONDAY, JUNE 15.
• APEA Members pay only $10.00 for two drinks and a 3 hour barbeque.
• Non members pay $20.00 for two drinks and a 3 hour barbeque. • Everyone pays $20.00 after Monday, June 15. • The fun begins at 2:00pm on Friday, June 19 and lasts all night long.
SEE YOUR BUILDING REP. FOR TICKETS

Let’s show our solidarity at this last event for the 2008-2009 school year!

Extended Days, Years Produce Mixed Results For Schools Nationwide.
USA Today (6/10, Durando) reports that the Robert Treat Academy “boasted the highest test scores among New Jersey urban public schools in 2008, based on a test called the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge.” Furthermore, “the school was one of only eight nationwide declared ‘high-poverty, high-achieving’ by the U.S. Department of Education.” USA Today points out that class begins at the academy at 8:30 am and ends at 5 pm. “With examples like this, the push for extended learning time is gaining nationwide.” However, “a three-year” extended-day “program in 39 underperforming public schools” in Miami-Dade County, FL, “produced mixed academic results,” and “administrators and teachers experienced fatigue and burnout.” Also, “according to a final evaluation released last month,” students in the program, which also included an extended school year, “scored lower on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests in reading or math compared with other students in the county.”

Janet Allen’s Inside Words: Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary, Grades 4-12 helps teachers make content vocabulary accessible and meaningful to their students. Classroom examples and graphic organizers support over 20 instructional strategies. Click here to preview the entire book online!

In the Classroom
Maryland High School Finds Success With Program In Domestic Security.
The Los Angeles Times (6/10, Drogin) reports on Ft. Meade, Maryland’s “long-troubled” Meade High School and its “first in the nation” program in domestic security. The school has “90 ninth-graders who chose the new homeland security program this past school year focused on topics torn from the headlines: Islamic jihadism, nuclear arms, cyber-crime, domestic militias and the like.” Program Coordinator Bill Sheppard and lead teacher Tina Edler put the curriculum together with “help from parents, local businesses, Ft. Meade officials, and other federal and state agencies.” So far, “most of this year’s students have signed up for the advanced course next fall” and “an additional 106 teens have enrolled for the introductory class.”

Friday, June 19 @ 2:00 – 5:00pm

• APEA members – $10.00.
• All money must be received by Tuesday, June 16th.
• After June 16th the price will be $20.00.
• The price for non-members – $20.00.
• You receive 2 drink tickets and a wrist band for the barbecue (hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, cold salad, veggie burgers) when you arrive at The Headliner no later than 4:00pm.
• Stay as late as you want after the party and enjoy the fun!
Let’s show our solidarity at this last event for the 2008-2009 school year!

Study Finds Most Tenured Teachers In Some Districts Receive Favorable Evaluations.
Education Week (6/2, Sawchuk) reports, “In many school districts, nearly all tenured teachers…are deemed above average, concludes a study released today” by the New York City-based New Teacher Project. “The report analyzes the results of a survey of more than 15,000 teachers and 1,300 administrators across four states and 12 districts” and concluded that “more than nine in 10 tenured teachers in those districts met local standards in recent evaluation cycles.” New Teacher Project president Timothy Daly said that even though “survey results don’t make up a representative national sampling of districts,” they do have implications in “other policy areas. … Because distinctions in effectiveness aren’t formally documented, districts are missing out on opportunities to link the evaluation systems to professional-development tools, to decisions for granting tenure to novices, and to bonuses or career-ladder initiatives.”

Free your students from boring, time-consuming test-prep workbooks with a proven, 3-step approach that can be applied throughout the curriculum in a meaningful way. The revised and expanded edition of Better Answers helps you and your students adapt to high-stakes tests that require written responses. Click here to preview the entire book online!

In the Classroom
New York City Students Improve Math Scores.
On its front page, the New York Times (6/2, A1, Hernandez) reports, “New York City’s public school students showed large gains on state math tests this year, particularly in the middle school grades, and black and Hispanic students continued to edge closer to their white counterparts,” according to “the city and state education departments.” Eighty-two percent of New York City “students in Grades 3 through 8 passed the test, compared with 74 percent last year.” Meanwhile, the achievement gap between black and white students narrowed to “17 percentage points this year, on average, compared with 31 points in 2006.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “trumpeted the results as evidence that mayoral control had produced revolutionary improvements and brought city students within spitting distance of state averages after years of mediocrity.”

Year Will Not Be Extended For Most Chicago Area Schools Affected By Swine Flu.
The Chicago Tribune (5/27, Malone) reports, “The swine flu outbreak that closed nearly three dozen schools in the Chicago area amid early concerns about containing the new virus is adding a wrinkle to end-of-school calendars.” Most of the schools that were closed “do not plan to push the school year later with makeup days, local authorities said.” Chicago area school officials “said the missed days will not be tacked on to the school year because, in most cases, a single school within a larger district shut down while the rest remained open.” Only absences that affect “an entire district must be recouped…said Marjorie Beck, a principal consultant with the state education agency.”

New York City DOE Seeks School Year Extension Waiver. The New York Daily News (5/27, Armaghan, et al.) reports, “It was back to class Tuesday for students at more than 20 schools closed because of swine flu fears, including one where an assistant principal died from the virus.” The city’s “Department of Education is seeking a waiver from the state so the school year doesn’t have to be extended past June 26 for closed schools.” Some schools that reopened Tuesday had been closed since as early as May 14.

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In the Classroom
Students In Baltimore Learn About Locally-Grown Foods From Well-Known Chefs.
The Baltimore Sun (5/26, Kelly) reported on the “Days of Taste” seminar that is currently being “offered at 17 Baltimore city and county schools.” The seminar “teaches children about what’s produced on Maryland farms, tells them about non-processed foods and encourages them to grow a little more adventurous at mealtime.” Last week, for instance, third-graders from Catonsville Elementary School visited “One Straw Farm in White Hall in northern Baltimore County,” where they “saw lettuce being started in the greenhouse and the growing fields.” According to the Baltimore Sun, “the instructors who donate their time” to the program “are some of [the city's] best-known chefs.” The seminar “is a project of the American Institute of Wine and Food, a nonprofit educational organization founded by television chef Julia Child, wine maker Robert Mondavi and others.”