Strong Opposition to Federal Excise Tax Needed

Current conference discussions aimed at a compromise between the House and Senate versions of federal health legislation continue to include a 40 percent federal excise tax on health benefits costs that exceed $8,500 for single coverage and $23,000 for family.

Your immediate action is needed to oppose this additional new tax.

The House version contains a reasonable alternative that would fund health care reform through a tax on millionaires – defined as individuals making over $500,000 and families with incomes over $1 million.

As proposed, the federal excise tax will amount to a tax increase that will fall mainly on middle class workers and their families and is not fair.

Here’s what you need to do:

· Call your senators and tell them to oppose any measure that contains an excise tax:

Senator Frank Lautenberg, (973) 639-8700

Senator Robert Menendez, (973) 645-3030

· Call your congressman and tell him to oppose any measure that contains an excise tax. If you need help identifying your congressman, go to njea.org to find that information.

Attached is a Congressional district locator and roster as well as a sample phone script y ou may want to use to make your calls.

Additional information is available – and will be updated – at www.njea.org.

Act now to oppose this added tax – this bill could be finalized within days!

BACKGROUND
On December 31, we sent an update to each NJEA local association president providing the latest news on Phase 1 of the federal “Race to the Top” (RTTT) grant program.

ANALYSIS OF RTTT PROPOSAL
Based upon the discussion at that meeting, NJEA leadership’s discussions with NJ DOE staff, and review of New Jersey’s grant application, NJEA believes the grant application is severely flawed and that it contains numerous objectionable provisions as it now stands.

Among the provisions causing the greatest concern are those which would tie teacher evaluation, compensation, and tenure to student test scores.

In addition, it appears that the application would commit New Jersey to a massive expansion of its standardized testing program and a significant increase in the educational bureaucracy.

Finally, the provisions dealing with merit pay, evaluation, and length of school day/year have significant collective bargaining implications for local associations.

Based on our assessment of the proposal as it now stands, we are advising our local associations NOT to sign the memorandum of understanding because it includes merit pay, pay for performance, and/or the utilization of student test scores for teacher evaluation.

NEXT STEPS
The Department of Education has created a Memorandum of Understanding and is asking each district to obtain signatures from the superintendent, the president of the board of education, and the local association president.

On the form, it reads that the signatures are required. Please be advised you are not required to sign this form and be aware that your signature on the form would commit your local association to support all of the items included in the state’s RTTT application.

Green School In Brooklyn Emphasizes Civic Involvement. The New York Times (1/11, A12, Navarro, Bhanoo) reports that throughout the US, a wide “range of green schools form a fledgling network, with some of them benefiting from state grants and mandates to incorporate environmental education into the curriculum.” At the Green School in Brooklyn, NY, for instance, places great “emphasis on civic involvement.” Also, “students are encouraged to delve into local issues that may affect them and their families” such as “water quality or the razing of low-scale housing.” Similar schools nationwide are partnering with “groups like the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation, which provide lesson plans or money for field trips, and…private and government agencies that are making concerted environmental efforts in communities and cities.” An accurate count of the “private, and charter and traditional public schools nationwide” that “have adopted an environmental theme” is not yet available, the Times notes.

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In the Classroom
Aviation Class Structured To Promote 21st Century Skills. The Bismarck (ND) Tribune (1/11, Kincaid) reports on the aviation II class at Bismarck High School, which will recreate a “1902 Wright glider” for a class project in the coming year.

Florida Education Commissioner, Teachers Agree: Over-Enrollment Is A Problem For AP Classes.
The St. Petersburg Times (1/8, Matus) reports that echoing the “growing chorus of teachers” in Florida that have for years “complained that they’re being swamped by kids unprepared for the rigors of Advanced Placement classes,” Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith told the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday that “there is a problem in overenrollment in AP.” He added, “There needs to be some selectivity in how kids are guided into AP, and which AP work they’re guided into.” The Times notes that in the past ten years, “Florida has quadrupled the number of students taking AP classes.” But many “teachers and others…fear” that “pushing more ‘average’ students into AP” is “compromising quality to reach lower-performing students and potentially shortchanging those at the top.” Similar sentiments have been expressed throughout the country, as shown in “a survey of 1,000 AP teachers” by the Fordham Institute “that drew national attention last year.” Results showed that “more than half said too many AP students are ‘in over their heads.’”

A step-by-step guide to designing effective differentiated lessons. In Differentiation Rick Wormeli takes middle and high school teachers from the blank page to a fully-crafted lesson and demonstrates how to weave differentiation into all subject areas. Click here to read Chapter 1 online!

In the Classroom
Bismarck Public School District Switching to Project Based High School Business Curriculum.
The Bismarck (ND) Tribune (1/7, Kincaid) reports, “Students in Jennifer Anderson’s Web design class” at Bismarck High School are creating WebPages for “local businesses that needed help with their Web presence.” Next year, the entire Bismarck Public Schools district will have a project-based curriculum with similar assignments, as it has joined “the High School of Business program offered by the MBA Research and Curriculum Center.” The center curriculum is made up of “business courses that build on one another with the goal of preparing students to enter business administration programs in college.” The Bismarck Tribune adds, “One way business classes will become more meaningful is through class projects like the Web design classes.

To: All Asbury Park Education Association Members

From: John Napolitani, President

Date: January 8, 2010

Re: Local Professional Development Committee (LPDC)

Please be advised that all terms for the Local Professional Development Committee have expired. There are six (6) positions on this committee, four (4) of which must be APEA members. The remaining two (2) positions are held by administration.

The purpose of this committee is to set up the Professional Development Plan for the entire school district for the following school year. This is an extremely important committee. The four (4) positions are two (2) two (2) year terms and two (2) one (1) year terms.

If you are interested in serving on this committee, please forward me your name and contact information no later than Friday, January 22, 2010. If more people request to be on this committee than there are positions, we will hold an election to fill these terms.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
—————————————————————————————

Name: __________________________ Term: ____2 year ____ 1 year

Email: __________________________ Location: ________________

Pc: Michael Zajac, Recording Secretary
Paul Murphy, Corresponding Secretary
Robert Mc Garry, Director of Curriculum

Teachers Earn Extra Money By Selling Lesson Plans Online. The New York Times (11/15, A1, Hu) reported on its front page, “Between Craigslist and eBay, the Internet is well established as a marketplace where one person’s trash is transformed into another’s treasure” However, thousands of teachers are now “cashing in on a commodity they used to give away, selling lesson plans online for exercises as simple as M&M sorting and as sophisticated as Shakespeare.” Though “some of this extra money is going to buy books and classroom supplies in a time of tight budgets, the new teacher-entrepreneurs are also spending it on dinners out, mortgage payments, credit card bills, vacation travel and even home renovation, leading some school officials to raise questions over who owns material developed for public school classrooms.”

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In the Classroom
High School Students In Wisconsin Learn About Forensic Accounting. The Wisconsin State Journal (11/16, Cotant) reports that last week, 83 students from high schools in the Madison area attended a “seminar conducted by the IRS and staged at Madison Area Technical College” where they learned “about investigating fraud through forensic accounting — which uses accounting, auditing and investigative skills to look at a company’s financial statements.” They also “discovered the importance of taxes and what happens when people try to avoid paying them.” The program, called “Project Adrian Jr.

School will be closed on Thursday, December 24, 2009 and will reopen on Monday, January 4, 2010.

On behalf of the Asbury Park Education Association Executive Committee, we want to wish you and your family, a very safe and happy holiday season.

 APEA WINTER CELEBRATION AT

THE WONDER BAR

 Friday, December 18, 2009

Ocean Ave., Asbury Park

Time: 3:00-?

Price: $10.00 for APEA Members

                        $30.00 for Non Members

(2 drink tickets, buffet dinner, dancing w/ DJ)

Your ticket and wrist band must be picked up at the place of purchase the day of the party. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR WRISTBAND ON TO ENTER! 

• Tickets go on sale December 1.
• Tickets must be purchased by Fri. Dec. 11.
• No tickets will be sold at the door!
• The Wonder Bar is closed to the public.

Financial Turmoil Boosting Student Interest In Economics.

The AP (11/25, Gross) reports that the current financial crisis has made economics “more relevant and immediate to many high school and college students, and they are suddenly paying closer attention in class. … Instructors are delighted by the opportunity to use the dramatic events on Wall Street to explain concepts students might otherwise find dry, such as liquidity and Federal Reserve monetary policy.” The AP adds, “At Plano West Senior High School in a prosperous Dallas suburb, Advanced Placement economics teacher Sally Meek said her students keep veering off into politics and policy, debating the presidential candidates’ plans during the election and grappling with questions of how big a role government should take in trying to turn around the economy.” Also, the “Arizona Council on Economic Education is helping teachers design classes based on the current financial crisis.”

In the Classroom

APEA Winter Celebration at THE WONDER BAR

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ocean Ave., Asbury Park
Time: 3:00-? Price: $10.00 for APEA Members
$30.00 for Non Members
(2 drink tickets, buffet dinner, dancing w/ DJ)

Your ticket and wrist band must be picked up at the place of purchase the day of the party. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR WRISTBAND ON TO ENTER!

• Tickets go on sale December 1. • Tickets must be purchased by Fri. Dec. 11. • No tickets will be sold at the door! • The Wonder Bar is closed to the public.