Appleseed Asks NJ State Commissioner To Investigate Fraud In Newark Schools Superintendent Marion Bolden Fails to Take Responsibility
(August, 2007) - State law grants the New Jersey Commissioner of Education a broad range of powers in deciding legal controversies and disputes that arise under school law or state board regulations. Project Appleseed, the National Campaign for Public School Improvement, has asked the New Jersey Department of Education Commissioner, Dr. Lucille E. Davy, to investigate the illegal use of Project Appleseed's Parental Involvement Report Card in Newark Public Schools.
In much of the academic world, when students commit plagiarism it is also considered theft. Teachers go out of their way to warn students against this sort of theft. Given the worth that the academic community attaches to ideas, the theft of an idea is one of academia's most offensive crimes.
But in Newark Public Schools in New Jersey, when academic fraud is uncovered - forgetaboutit! - the district superintendent looks the other way when she and her staff are caught committing the fraud. During routine searches of the Internet, Project Appleseed staff discovered that Newark Public Schools had pirated Appleseed's Parental Involvement Report Card trademark and was illegally passing off a counterfeit document over the district's web site. Copies of the counterfeit document are circulation throughout Newark.
Attorney's for Newark Public Schools General Counsel's Office have contacted Project Appleseed but have not responded on behalf of Superintendent Dr. Marion A. Bolden. The superintendent has not responded to repeated demands for payment for the use of Project Appleseed's intellectual property. This is the latest round of Internet piracy of the Parental Involvement Pledge and the Parental Involvement Report Card, the most widely used learning compact and parental involvement diagnostic tools in America's public schools.
"This is one of the problems in parental involvement in America today. A sizable minority of administrators are faking their parent outreach programs in order to satisfy No Child Left Behind. Its all about the money and not about providing real parental involvement. Real involvement requires an honest partnership of equals, between parents and schools - and respect for the intellectual property of parent groups," said Project Appleseed President & National Director, Kevin Walker.
Mr. Walker has twice been voted one of the ten most influential people in American education. He advised the Clinton White House and helped write the ground breaking parental involvement provisions in Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. The legislation was reauthorized by the United States Congress under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. Mr. Walker is expected to testify before Congressional committees, in the House and Senate, on the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind this year.
Newark Public Schools receives 7% or $70,000,000 of one billion in funding from federal funds - including the Title I program. Federal law requires that 1% of these funds are to be used specifically for the purpose of increasing parental involvement, District's receiving federal funds are required to distribute compacts like the Parental Involvement Pledge that outlines how parents, the entire school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student achievement.
Project Appleseed, a national nonprofit organization continues to offer settlements to those accused of illegally downloading the Pledge and Parental Involvement Report Card from www.projectappleseed.org. For comment contact Project Appleseed Communications at communications@projectappleseed.org.
projectappleseed.org THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT 520 Melville Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63130-4506 Parents Advocating Challenging Education a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit education organization.
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