April 20, 2010

Dear Governor Christie,

I am a teacher. As such, I have worked with all kinds of children, those who are bright and hard working and those who struggle to find success. Those who speak English and those who families speak a language different than English. I have worked with children from traditional homes and the homeless. Those children whose families fill their lives with rich experiences and activities and those whose parents are so overwhelmed with life that they have no time for anything else beyond survival. I have worked with children who are healthy and those who have severe medical issues, those children who are socially and emotionally well-adjusted and those who can’t cope with the world around them. I have taught kindergarteners and high school students how to read and write to the best of their abilities. I have dealt with the death of one of my first graders and the illnesses of my students and colleagues from sick buildings. With all of these diverse experiences I now know why it is that you hate teachers so much.

You see, there isn’t a teacher alive who hasn’t dealt with you in their career. We all know your secret. You are the 5 year old who shoves other kids around on the playground. You are the 8 year old who steals others lunch money. You are the teenager who pushes the weak kid into the locker or who flushes their coat down the toilet or the ‘cool kid’ who insults and humiliates those around you.

New York City Schools Chief Moves To Give Principals More Power Over Curriculum. The New York Times (4/27, Medina) reports that New York City schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein “said Monday that he was reshuffling the top jobs at city’s Education Department headquarters and eliminating the division that oversees school curriculum and teacher training programs.” His aim is “to give principals more power to determine what kind of instruction they use at individual schools, rather than using only suggestions developed in central offices.” According to the Times, “The changes underscore a substantial shift that the department has made under Mr. Klein, who early in his tenure focused on centralizing control of the system and developing a uniform citywide curriculum.”

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In the Classroom
E-Curriculums Offer Schools Customized Solutions. Education Week (4/23, Davis) reported, “With a wealth of online courses for school districts to choose from, plus an abundance of interactive activities, videos, and digital information to sift through to design such courses,” many “school leaders are” purchasing “online classes from nonprofit and for-profit providers, making their own from scratch, accessing open-source options, or combining all three approaches.” Education Week details the trends in individualized instructional programs, project-based courses, and custom-built programs created by individual schools.

Florida Virtual School, DOE To Host Virtual STEM Career Fair For Middle, High School Students. The St.

Senator Proposes $23 Billion Fund To Save Teaching Jobs. The Washington Post (4/15, Anderson) reports, “As public schools nationwide face larger class sizes and cuts in programs, the Senate’s leading Democrat on education issues proposed a $23 billion bailout Wednesday to help avert layoffs of tens of thousands of teachers and other school personnel in the coming academic year.” Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) is sponsoring a bill described by the Post as “a potential sequel to the economic stimulus law enacted last year.”

Bloomberg News (4/15, Staley) reports that at a US Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Harkin told lawmakers that “job losses at public schools and colleges in the US may top 100,000 in the next school year. … The legislation needs to be passed now because school districts are making budget decisions this month, he said.” Medill News Service (4/14, Yadron) reported that according to Harkin, “unless Congress acts, many of the education policy changes currently being weighed by the Obama administration and Congress will be pointless,” as educators are laid off en masse.

Education Week (4/14, Klein) reported that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Wednesday “urged Congress to pass” new legislation “to preserve education jobs. He testified before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that deals with education spending on the same day the panel’s chairman,” Sen.

Please be advised that there is an extremely important Asbury Park Board of Education meeting being held on Tuesday, April 13, 2010, at 6:00pm, at Bradley Elementary School in the Multipurpose room. Many members of the APEA have been RICE’d, which means that their position will be discussed and this notification must be sent out so that the Board has the right to bring up an individual name if the need arises. Many positions will be eliminated this evening so it is imperative that you show up at this meeting to support all our staff members who may be losing their positions. I strongly urge every staff member, parent, and community member to attend this meeting to express their outrage to the Board of Education for these deep cuts.

We look forward to seeing as many people as possible at this meeting.

Today is the four year anniversary of AsburyParkEA.net! Over the past four years during the ups and downs of our schools, association & profession we hope that this website has been a reliable resource for everyone who uses it.

The most recent change has been a slight graphical facelift to the pages that should work better with today’s screen sizes. We have also added a Twitter feed that sends out a tweet everytime the website is updated. We hope you will make use of this.

As always, questions and comments are welcome. Send them to me at: PErricoAsburyParkEAnet  PErricoAsburyParkEAnet   . It’s your website, let us know what you think!

Please be advised for the next 12 days, we will not be updating our website due to the fact that we are presently on Spring Break. Any pertinent information will be sent out via email.

Enjoy your break and we will see you on April 12.