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LAMPHERE FEDERATION OF TEACHERS NCLB POSTCARD CAMPAIGN -LFT members are invited to participate in the NCLB POSTCARD CAMPAIGN. After living under NCLB for the past five and a half years, we all know that substantial changes must be made to this law. NCLB can be fixed only if your representative and senators hear directly from you. Share your experiences of how NCLB is not working and urge your representative and senators to take the time to get this law right. The process should be driven by the product, not the clock. Urge your members of Congress to fix adequate yearly progress (AYP) so that it truly reflects how schools are performing; to oppose measures that will lead to more teaching to the test; and to oppose "pay to the test" provisions that mandate the use of test scores to evaluate teachers for determining salary or incentives. See your building rep to get a postcard. AFT MEMBERS INJURED IN CLEVELAND SCHOOL SHOOTING --Two AFT members were among those injured on Oct. 10 when a student opened fire at Cleveland's SuccessTech Academy. David Kachadourian, who is the Cleveland Teachers Union building representative at the school, and Michael Grassie are the injured teachers. Grassie was wounded more seriously and was reported to be in fair condition after surgery. Kachadourian was treated and released from the hospital the same day. Two students also were shot; one remains hospitalized and the other was treated and released. CTU president JoAnn DeMarco, who rushed to the school after hearing about the incident, said that SuccessTech--a nontraditional Cleveland public school with about 240 students and a high graduation rate--was an unlikely location for such violence. "All the students and staff chose to be there; they are all highly motivated," she said. The union's officers were scheduled to meet with the school district CEO on Oct. 11 to discuss the district's plan for maintaining safe schools. The union has called for metal detectors in all schools. AFT MEMBERS HIT BY WILDFIRES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-- Contributions are urgently needed for the many AFT members across Southern California who have suffered devastating losses in the state's recent wildfires. More than a dozen fires have scorched communities from San Diego County to north of Los Angeles, leaving neighborhoods looking like "moonscapes" and "hell on earth," AFT eyewitnesses report. Almost a million people were evacuated in the October disaster, with home and property losses hitting hundreds of thousands of Californians, including many AFT members. The full scope of the tragedy won't be known until the fires are extinguished and evacuees return to their communities. But early reports show the California wildfires have destroyed homes and affected members from several locals, including the Poway Federation of Teachers, San Diego Adult Educators, AFT Guild-San Diego Community Colleges, Part-Time Faculty United-AFT at the College of the Canyons, Palomar College Faculty Federation and Palomar College Council. The list is almost certain to grow as more details become available. You can help fellow AFT members reclaim their lives from these losses by contributing to the AFT Disaster Relief Fund, Attn. Connie Cordovilla, 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001. Contributions are tax deductible. NEW REPORT DEBUNKS THE 'PRIVATE SCHOOL ADVANTAGE'-- A new study released Oct. 10 from the Center on Education Policy, http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/Fd1KNd11Rqig/cep, examines the so-called private school advantage in secondary education--and tosses this notion into the "urban myth" dustbin. The CEP report, "Are Private High Schools Better Academically Than Public High Schools?" goes beyond most earlier studies by following the same cohort of students over time, gauging their achievement trends prior to high school, and adjusting for key characteristics such as family income and parental participation in education. "Contrary to popular belief, we can find no evidence that private schools actually increase student performance," CEP president and chief executive officer Jack Jennings said in a statement. Respectfully submitted, Judy Schram
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