National Center for Science Education Grades States’ Evolution Standards. Education Week (subscription only) (8/12, Zehr) reported, “State science standards tend to cover evolution more extensively and better than they did nearly a decade ago, but at the same time, ‘creationist language’ has become more common in them, concludes a review of the standards in all 50 states and the District of Columbia” by the National Center for Science Education. The report gives “nine states and the District of Columbia…an A for their treatment of evolution.” Meanwhile, the study gave five states “a failing grade for their coverage of evolution.” Anton Mates, a public-information project director for the science education, said, “It’s better if [students] get the information [about evolution].” Francis Eberle, the executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, said that “his organization is in favor of states adopting common national science standards” that include evolution.

In the Classroom
Philadelphia District Test Scores Show Mixed Progress. The Philadelphia Inquirer (8/12, Graham) reported that for the seventh consecutive year, Philadelphia students “improved their scores on state reading and math tests.” Yet, data from the Philadelphia School District show fewer than half of district students “can read at grade level, and only slightly more can perform math at grade level.” In 2008-09, 52 percent of district students “made the grade in math, up 3 percentage points from last year.” Also, 48 percent of students “hit the mark in reading, up 2 percentage points.” If Philadelphia students continue their current progress, “it would take until 2123 for all students to reach proficiency,” yet, under NCLB mandates, all students “must pass state reading and math tests by 2014.”

North Carolina District To Allow Peace Activist To Compete With Military Recruiters.

To: All 12 Month APEA Staff Members

From: John Napolitani, President

Date: July 20, 2009

Re: Summer Hours Update

In an effort to try to salvage the summer hour issue for all 12 month employees, I met last Thursday with the Acting Superintendent, BOE attorney and the Business Administrator. Since Mark Cowell wanted the secretarial unit to give back two weeks of their summer hours in return for working a four day work week, I made two (2) very modest proposals to make up for their loss. This was denied.
For the record, Mark Cowell is the same person that RIF’d fifteen (15) teachers last year. This year, along with Corey Lowell, he RIF’d another sixty two (62) staff members which included the entire cafeteria unit. Last week, he and Ms. Lowell wanted me to give away the secretarial summer hours for the last two (2) weeks of summer. And next they will decimate remaining units of the support staff along with attempting to dismantle OUR hard fought Union contract.
During negotiations, there is give and take. Not just give. Unfortunately, Cowell and Lowell have the Burger King mentality where they think they can have it their way. They are not being mindful of the fact that this is a democracy and they are both being paid very handsome salaries for their positions, even to the point where Ms. Lowell was just given a raise and added benefits to her contract less than 1 year on the job. My question to you is have you been given a raise with added benefits? The answer very simply is no.

To: All 12 Month APEA Staff Members

From: John Napolitani, President

Date: July 15, 2009

Re: Summer Hours Update

Aesop once said “Enemies promises were made to be broken.” No words spoken can describe the on again, off again, on again, and now off again summer hour fiasco that Mark Cowell began over one year ago.

Just to update you, due to an unfortunate accident that our Uniserve Representative, Tom Bohnyak, had late last week, the draft agreement was late being sent to Mark Cowell for review. During his review process, Mark, through BOE attorney, Alan Schnirman, made several additional requests of the Association. Ron Villano, our other representative, in a show of good faith, sent several letters to our attorney and Mark’s boss stating that an agreement had been made and our charges would be dropped when the agreement was signed.
For the record, the majority of the district started these new hours on Monday. As late as yesterday afternoon, Mark advised a few staff members in the Board Office that they were not to be working four (4) days, but rather five (5), due to the fact that no agreement has been signed, even though they already started these hours.
Our original agreement, at the table, was that all language was to stay in tact. Mark and Corey Lowell are demanding that the summer hours end on August 14, two weeks before school starts. This would be a loss of two (2) weeks of a benefit for the secretaries, who have had their summer hours for over three (3) decades.

Classroom Technology Allows For “Real-World” Interaction Between Students.
The Washington Post (6/24, Glod) reports, “Even as globalization has fed worries about whether U.S. students can keep up with the rest of the world, it also has spawned classroom connections across oceans.” Some teachers are using “real-world interactions” to teach “lessons once pulled mainly from textbooks.” They “see such exchanges not only as an exciting way to teach geography, history, language and science but also as a vehicle to forge connections that push children beyond cultural stereotypes.” According to the Post, “There is no way to count exactly how many U.S. schools have connected with schools outside the country.” But it is known that “teachers are signing on in record numbers to online forums designed to link students across the world through secure digital spaces.” One such forum, ePals, has “more than 600,000 educators in 200 countries” participating. ePals “matches teachers with similar interests and provides translations.”

“One of those few must-read books that appear every year in education” (Richard Allington). In Readicide classroom teacher Kelly Gallagher takes a hard look at common instructional practices that discourage students from reading, and offers specific suggestions for what schools can do to cultivate lifelong readers. Click here for details!

In the Classroom
Sacramento Public Schools See Sharp Increase In Students Getting Free, Reduced Lunch.
The Sacramento Bee (6/24, Preese) reports, “The number of Sacramento County students taking free or reduced lunch increased sharply this year, faster than any other year this decade, according to new state figures.” A little more than half of all students in the school system “now take free or reduced lunch, up from exactly 50 percent the previous year — a key indicator of increasing child poverty.”

Middle School Book Club Recognized For Getting Parents Involved.
The Tampa Tribune (6/24, Pastor) reports on Extreme Read Warrior Style, a book club at Adams Middle School that “brings students, parents, and teachers together once a year to talk about books they agreed to read together.” The club was implemented “four years ago and” recently “was singled out as one of the best ways to involve parents in the Hillsborough County school district.” This year, Extreme Read had about 150 participants. “Each group read one of five books that” media specialist Abbey Dyer “and teaching teams chose, partially based on what would be available at the school’s February Scholastic book fair.” The teams “had a month to complete the book before assembling in the Adams cafeteria” for “roundtable discussions, where they came up with four points they learned from their reading.” The club “was named as one of two outstanding parent involvement program winners” last month at the district’s All Stars of Education awards ceremony.

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!