General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 23, 2020
OK, kids, say you’re a green-eyeshade governor who suddenly has something like $200 mill in unexpected revenues fall into your lap. Your obsession is to ‘never grow the base of the budget’ under any circumstances, so what do you do? You gift the money to two worthy projects and enable every legislator to join you in an Election Year Victory Lap. However, to quote Gilbert & Sullivan, “Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream.”
To wit, the Clean Water Initiative receives $50 mill from the state, and possibly $50 mill from other sources. Great! I support it. But the project will cost $500 mill and there is no provision as to where the other $400 mill will come from (remember that ‘don’t grow the base of the budget’ thingy). So, while perhaps not even John Carney’s speechwriters can screw up the applause line for today’s State Of The State Address, they’re not gonna tell you where the rest of the money can be found. If our fiscal fortunes take a downturn, it may never be found. At least not under the blinkered leadership of this guy.
To wit, Part Deux, John Carney’s gonna build a new school! In Wilmington! He is generously proposing $50 mill to build it! Great! I support it. Well, more of a replacement school than a new school. But, great! This again will be $50 mill in one-time funding so as not to, repeat after me, ‘grow the base of the budget’. Call me a skeptic, but I just have to ask myself, ‘Would our green-eyeshade governor be doing this if he wasn’t facing the prospect of a mandatory statewide reassessment due to lack of adequate state funding for public education?’ Hey, who am I to question his motives? Especially since Mayor Mike, who of course has no skin in this game, proclaims, and I quote:
“I’ve never seen anybody so committed to this issue of educating our kids,” he said.
OK, kids, time for a musical interlude to relay my reaction:
If that’s too subtle, Mr. Mayor, allow me rephrase, “Are you fucking kidding me?” I mean, that guy? I know he’s a constituent and all, but you’ve already got his vote.
But, I digress.
Here’s yesterday’s Session report. Gratified to see that SB 96, which we discussed yesterday, passed the Senate. Uh, that’s about it for yesterday’s activity.
I will be at work during the Governor’s State of the State address. So I encourage any of you who might be home to share your thoughts on what he said. If someone wishes to post the address once it’s made available, I’d appreciate it. I pledge to read it in its entirety this evening. Oh, the things I do for you.
The House will not run an agenda today. Here is the scheduled Senate Agenda.
Did I mention I’m working today? Gotta take a quick shower. I take at least one every week whether I need it or not…
And which district will now be in the hook for maintaining the new behemoth?
Is it to early for non-partisan redistricting?
Couple of random thoughts on the new school, which, BTW, is sorely needed to replace the aging Bancroft building:
1. Where are they going to put it? Do Mayor Mike and BPG have any spare acreage on the Riverfront? Or perhaps the former compost farm between Southbridge and the Port?
2. Does this help Christina pass its referendum in March? Will suburban voters find it easier to vote for higher taxes if they don’t have to pay for a school in the city?
3. Is this a sucker deal for the Christina Board of Ed? Hey, if the state’s going to put up the building, the school board sure as hell better do what the state wants it to do when the doors open. Or is this the end of Christina? Again, if the state is paying for the school, they might decide they can put it in whatever district they want.
4. Does this deal bite Carney (and his successors) in the ass? We’ve got plenty of districts with big concentrations of low-income, poor-testing kids and low tax bases. They could make the case for similar treatment. Not to mention districts like Indian River, which just might pass a much-needed referendum to replace aging, crowded schools if that state would bump up its share of construction costs by, say, another 10 percent.
5. This plan still doesn’t address something Wilmington school families have been clamoring for since, well, the turn of the century: a comprehensive, traditional high school within the city limits.
More questions than answers at this point. Let’s see how Gov. Eyeshade plays it out.
No Indian River couldn’t make the same case for a new school… because they’ve already built brand new schools within the last decade. You mention Indian River’s growing population as though their problems are equal to Wilmington?
Since 2000, the IRSD has completed several major capital improvement projects designed to increase instructional space and provide students with modern instructional amenities. Districtwide, 44 additional classrooms. IRSD has also built TWO new high schools; renovated NINE other school buildings; expanded storage space at Selbyville Middle School; constructed a new kitchen, cafeteria and office suite at Lord Baltimore Elementary School; and replaced the roofs on three other schools. Construction of a new kitchen was completed at the Georgetown Elementary/Georgetown Middle School complex last summer. And they’re back asking the state for more money for a 3rd new school to replace Sussex Central which was just built in 2003.
On the other hand, Wilmington’s newest school is Shortlidge. Built in like 1968 and I bet they haven’t put a new doorknob in there since. There is NO community in this state whose school infrastructure has been neglected like Wilmington.
These bullshit “what about the other kids in the state” statements are the exact reason why black and brown kids have recieved the short end of the stick in education for generations. Nobody asked that dumbass question when Appo got millions in infrastructure funding to build their newest monster of a school. When the new Dover High was built, nobody asked why the largest city in the state (80k residents) doesn’t have a public high school. These schools in Wilmington are horrible. Rats, mould, piss stained bathrooms, and the districts chalk it up to “deferred maintenance” Fuck anyone who acts like these kids and families don’t deserve nice shit. And if it wasn’t for these soft ass black leaders in this state, this would have happened years ago. Yeah, Wilmington needs a high school, but if you walk through these elementary schools, you’d know that the younger kids need not be walking up crumbling stairs and breathing in mould. The older kids get bussed to high schools outside of the city; Those are in white neighborhoods, so at least the districts are taking care of those schools (I wonder why?…. funny how that works). Therefore the older kids can wait, but the babies cannot.
I agree with you. That’s an incredibly right-on take of the situation.
But they’re probably just angling for bargaining chips. Something to, yes, put on their political brochures.
The question is, will they hold the new school hostage for such chips?
If past is prologue, the answer is yes.
In case you were wondering, John Carney gave his State of
the Statehis Re-Election speech yesterday. Nothing of note but this item was within Matt Bittle’s State News write-up:https://delawarestatenews.net/government/jobs-schools-gun-laws-carney-spotlights-successes-teases-toward-future-in-address/
Fucking sickening. What a goddam joke that guy is. That he isn’t facing a primary is a fucking crime.