A Literal “Yes” or “No” Question
Photo Courtesy of Mike Matthews.
Today in Dover, the State Board of Education voted down the WEIC plan. Then attached an amendment regarding the Christina School District plan for its priority schools, changed the word “shall” to “may” in the statement about the state providing funding for any redistricting activity, voted again and passed the WEIC plan as amended.
If you’re like me, you know the law states the State Board of Education must vote yea or nay on WEIC as a whole package, as it is submitted by the Commission. No amendments, no language changes, just a straight yes or no, and they had to vote. If you’re like me, you may also remember that in January the State Board decided to not vote at all on the plan, as they were legally required to do, and handed it back to Tony Allen with their reasoning for not supporting it. Remember that part about having to vote? Pepperidge Farm Remembers.
Fast forward to today. The revised plan is brought up for a vote, and the vote fails to pass. After some sketchy off-the-record conversations with the State Board’s counsel, the funding language was altered, and the Christina priority schools plan was attached as an amendment. Remember the part about voting on the entire WEIC package as a whole and being unable to modify it? Pepperidge Farm remembers that too. In any case, the vote on WEIC as amended passed.
Follow with me on this. The State Board changed the funding language from “The State shall provide funding”, to “The State may provide funding.” Remember when it was decided no funding = no redistricting? Pepperidge Far- wait! I’m not done. The WEIC plan called for the Red Clay Consolidated School District to absorb all city schools, right? Christina School District’s Priority Schools plan calls for re-working how three of Christina city schools operate. We’re moving all city schools to Red Clay, but we’re also letting Christina work on their priority schools? HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?
If you ask me, and I’m only going on second hand information, this was the State Board of Education voting WEIC down without actually voting “No”. They yanked funding and attached a plan that directly competes with it as an amendment. You know, just once I’d like to see the State Board of Education actually respect the needs of our school students in the City of Wilmington. A no vote would have been more respectful than what they did today.
Tags: Delaware Education, Featured, Priority Schools, State Board of Education, WEIC
You’re never gonna get your wish, Brian, to see the State Board actually respect students or the public as long as it is appointed, not elected. They don’t have to; that’s not their function.
And you’re never gonna see an elected State Board, either, because both the Democrats and Republicans don’t watch to touch that kind of accountability, and we–the voters of Delaware–won’t make them. We just keep voting for them and never punish them for not doing their jobs.
We earned our rating as most corrupt state government in the nation.
I think it’s time to stop depending on the state government to fix these schools and do it ourselves, whether that’s through the courts, or whether we just ignore them and do what needs to be done without their approval and despite their best efforts.
How impertinent would it be to ask them: “So what’s your plan?”
The WEAC report, the precursor to the WEIC plan, was the most comprehensive, most thoughtful analysis of the state of education in New Castle County in the last 40 years. The WEIC plan addressed every conceivable issue — boundaries, administration, academics, expenses, even the need to extend services essential to low-income students and English-language learners throughout the state. As an educational plan, it covered far more ground than anything produced by the State Board of Ed and/or the State Department of Education in a generation.
Even so, there were no assurances that this plan would win approval. While I have considered this plan the last, best chance to transform schools in Wilmington and, by reforming the funding system, those in New Castle County and throughout the state, I always doubted that the General Assembly would approve. At some point, a majority of the House or Senate would say “sorry, we don’t have the money” to give all Delaware students the education they need to prosper as adults.
But I did not think that the State Board of Education — those who are charged with oversight of our school system — would bail on their responsibility, especially through a vote that says “we approve but we don’t approve.” Good Lord, they’re all Markell’s appointees, and the governor set the commission in motion. The damn board couldn’t even heed their master’s wishes.
You know, if the State Board applied the same nitpicky standards to the various testing programs under its purview — if it had asked for proof of how they would improve “student outcomes” — chances are we still would not have a statewide assessment system , and opt-out never would have become an issue.
Damn, it’s frustrating. Right now, I’d like to see the governor call state board members into his office, one by one, pull off his belt and administer some good old-fashioned corporal punishment. And then dismiss each one from the board. And then nominate Tony Allen as the next president of the SBE.
“We’re moving all city schools to Red Clay, but we’re also letting Christina work on their priority schools? HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?”
Props to Kevin Ohlandt at Exceptional Delaware for his liveblog of the SBOE meeting.
I read Kevin’s liveblog closely, and here is what I gathered: Remember Christina has been refusing to sign its priority schools agreement (MOU) with the state, which would enable state funding but which would also impose requirements the Christina board could not live with. SBOE is receptive to the WEIC plan to the extent that it renders Christina’s opposition moot by redistricting Christina’s three priority schools to Red Clay, which HAS signed its priority schools MOU. However, when Red Clay agreed to the redistricting plan, its condition was that the priority schools from Christina would arrive with state priority schools funding attached. So (and this is where I am not 100% sure), in the meantime due to the impasse with Christina MOU, the state funding has not been attached to those schools, so the Red Clay conditions for redistricting cannot be met until Christina agrees to the MOU and obtains the state funding.
Meanwhile, some kind of coup happened on the Christina board, which has appointed Robert Andrzejewski (“Bob A.”), former Red Clay superintendent, as the Christina acting superintendent. So it is assumed that the Christina board will sign the MOU, but it hasn’t happened yet.
If my summary is incorrect, somebody please comment with clarifications.
Correction: I don’t think Christina signing the MOU is at issue, but to obtain the funding Christina has to submit and SBOE must approve a priority schools plan.
“ood Lord, they’re all Markell’s appointees, and the governor set the commission in motion. The damn board couldn’t even heed their master’s wishes.”
The SBOE actions are entirely consistent with the governor’s wishes. The governor’s only interest is obtaining the redistricting, in order to win his pissing match with Christina. Neither the governor nor the legislature has any intention of providing the necessary money, thus the change of the funding language from “shall” to “may.”
This entire thing reminds me of the Wilmington Neighborhood Schools Proposal, another committee that put in time and energy to address the very real problem of the NSA on city schools only to be discarded. I feel terrible for the people who worked so many hours and gave up so much of their time on WEIC.
The funding was always the key, and the SBOE just put in motion an unavoidable fight between citizens by changing shall to may. They abdicated their responsibility and will let the public do their work and vote NO. There’s simply no way RCCD residents are going to accept redistricting without mandated state funding, and I don’t blame them. Honestly, we would have been better off if the SBOE had just voted no – which is actually what they did.
I’d love to find out whose fingerprints are on this decision/maneuvering, because that amendment and word change make no sense without a future agenda (yet unknown, but I can guess) in play. So now we wait and see who starts talking about how this vote was a win for city children and how it will work. Pay close attention to who’s speaking, how they’re framing this vote and their ideas on how it will work… and then take their fingerprints.
Puck, I’d say you had something with your theory but we already know the likelihood of priority school funding coming from the state, just ask the Red Clay BOE. They were “promised” funding for their priority schools, and no check ever came in the mail.
Christina originally had 2 options with regard to their 3 priority schools. 1) Approve and follow MOU developed by DDOE and implement it -or- 2) Develop an alternative plan in response to the priority schools designation. Christina chose option 2 and put a lot of man-hours and effort into designing a transformation plan for our 3 priority schools. All the while asking for DDOE and/or SBOE to come and be a part of the process. No one ever showed up to assist, only criticize. So Christina developed their plan, as required, and submitted to DDOE. And that wasn’t good enough for DDOE, even though it was exactly what they asked for. There was already an agenda in place though as everyone is well aware- follow the DDOE’s plan or else. The option for the districts to create their own plan seems to only have been included to save face for DDOE.
Keep in mind Red Clay has $6 million for WEIC purposes in Markell’s budget (all city schools, including the 6 priority schools), but no $ earmarked specifically for RCCSD’s 3 priority schools.
I agree that there’s no winning scenario for Christina here, nor is there a winning scenario for Red Clay. More importantly, the 11,000 kids in the City of Wilmington are being ping-ponged back and forth in this disgusting game Dover’s playing with us.
I don’t agree with the ‘coup’ on Christina’s board. If Bob A. can help facilitate us transforming this district while Acting Superintendent, I’m more than okay with that. There’s a flurry of activity happening in Christina right now with regards to the referendum next month and what we want this District look like 5 years down the road. There’s a lot of energy and positivity that I’ve not felt in the few years I’ve been active in Christina.
When I think of Bob A. I think of his time as Super at RCCD and how he and the board re-segregated RCCD schools long before the Neighborhood Schools Act became law.
I can’t speak to what went down in RCCSD pandora. I’d like to think that Christina and the dozens of volunteers working hard behind the scenes to kick start this district again wouldn’t stand for further segregation. Myself included.
We need to do something with our District to reenergize it and we can’t wait for Dover, WEIC or anyone else to do it for us (as Steve Newton said) . We’re taking it upon ourselves to make the change we want to see in our District.
I understand that completely, Brian. Just keep an eye on your teammates. 😉
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the area of public service, even as a volunteer, it’s to keep an eye on everyone and everything. Never know what’s just over the horizon. We’ll do our best.
Rep. Stephanie T. Bolden with a candidate for “quote of the year”: “I just did the apology for slavery,” said State Rep. Stephanie T. Bolden, D- Wilm. East. “I am hoping we will not have to do an apology for education.”
@Steve: “You’re never gonna … see the State Board actually respect students or the public as long as it is appointed, not elected.”
You wouldn’t get that with an elected board, either. The evidence from around the country would indicate that, like judges, voters prefer their elected authority figures harsh, crude and conservative.
Brian, puck is more right than wrong and Pandora is a sage.
There is more than meets the eye here.
Re: pandora at 724.
Okay if while we’re getting their fingerprints we take a bit of digit with it?
Asking for a friend.
Why, thank you, John. I’m not really a sage. I’ve just traveled this road before. I know where it leads.
Brooke, ouch! But the fingerprints on this will be revealed. You’ll find them on the microphones after they stop speaking on how this vote, while not perfect, is a win and then slowly trot out a plan – that has existed since well before WEIC began its work.