DL Open Thread Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024
The special election to replace the Lyin’ King, George Santos, as representative in New York’s 3rd congressional district wasn’t the squeaker predicted by polling. Democrat Tom Suozzi defeated his Republican rival by eight percentage points, 54-46. As is traditionally the case, reporters are falling all over themselves to explain why this isn’t good news for Democrats: It snowed, the Democrat was much better known, the sun got in their eyes, it took a bad hop…oh, wait, those last two are why the Mets sucked.
Bipartisan Boy, in his alter-ego as mild-mannered Sen. Chris Coons, offered some campaign advice for Joe Biden in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Joe Biden’s particular benefit has always been, it’s Joe and Jill, not President Biden and Dr. Biden, right? So get out from behind the podium. Go visit people where they actually live, record it on these stupid things. Post it … that’s where people are.
The president, in five minutes hanging out in someone’s kitchen in North Carolina … got 5 million views on a platform I’ve never heard of. Put on the quarter zip and put on some jeans and walk on into people’s houses and be Joe Biden. And they like you and they connect with you. Stop being presidential all the time.
I can’t say he’s wrong.
AG Merrick Garland’s time in the job is running out one way or the other. If Trump wins he’ll be out of there like shit through a goose, and if the gossip being printed by Politico and the Atlantic is accurate, Biden won’t keep him either. “What Democrats do is they bend over backwards not to look partisan, and then they end up hiring people that are partisan but in the other direction,” one unnamed source said. Gee, ya think?
The House Divided managed to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on its second attempt. Nice try, fellas, but pulling your trousers up after you’ve been pantsed doesn’t erase the embarrassment.
The University of Delaware, endowment $1.78 billion, owns more than 40 percent of the land in the city of Newark, but hasn’t upped its payment in lieu of taxes for city services for years (it pays $2 million for land that would be taxed at $6 million). So the city is moving ahead with a plan to tax the University of Delaware $50 per student per semester (subscription required). For the math-challenged, that endowment should earn nearly $18 million per annum per 1% return. Just guessing here, but I think the cheapskate bastards can afford it. Maybe someone in the General Assembly could stop lining her own pockets long enough to force their books open.
I once thought that gene editing gave us great hope of restoring species like the American chestnut and the American elm, both devastated by imported pathogens. Instead, it’s given us petunias that glow in the dark. A company called Light Bio has introduced its bioluminescent Firefly Petunia, the foliage of which emits a faint glow, as shown in their promotional video. For a mere $29 for a plant in a 4-inch pot you can blind yourself with science.
Dems retained control of the PA House (102-100) in a Bucks County special election.
Voters approve Brandyine School District referendum by a lopsided 7059 – 2197.
Our whole family breathed a sigh of relief when the results were announced last night. After the past 8 years, I really doubted that it was possible that a majority of people existed who would not only support the community but vote to be taxed more.
I’m not a teacher, and no one in my family works for the school district, but all three of my children attend Brandywine schools. Overall, we’ve had positive experiences — the teachers my kids have had in the past 10 years are invested in their students and go above and beyond on a daily basis. My kids have had opportunities for enrichment and extracurricular activities that I did not have attending Catholic school in Philadelphia in the 70s and 80s. Thank you to all who voted to maintain funding for all the programs.
At least Brandywine voters know their dollars aren’t being siphoned off by charters and magnet schools, like in Red Clay. Brandywine money is going only to traditional public schools and none to selective-enrollment schools, which makes it an easy call for voters.
F*ck charter schools. They’re just free private schools for the privileged few. Close them all down and shift the programs that work to the public schools. Enough is enough.
There are two flavors of charter schools in Delaware. Type A charters are run by serious people who want to attract and cultivate serious, well behaved students (think CSW, Cab, Newark Charter). Type B charter schools are run by hucksters and tend to target minority or low performing students (think Delaware Met School, or the public safety academy).
The truth is, charter schools are successful because they offer people without monetary privilege the opportunity to send their kid to a safer, higher performing school.
The opt-in/test-in model creates a barrier for low performing students or those with disengaged parents. These are the exact students who contribute to the negative and unsafe environments in traditional public school. Going to traditional public schools is like hopping on a dart bus; because they have to take everyone, you could end up next to a guy who is nodding after taking a hit, a mentally ill man who hasn’t bathed in days, or someone who is playing loud, derogatory music. No one that has the means and access to make alternative arrangements would subject themselves to that, and nor would they subject their kid to that.
Public schools can right the ship by casting off the model of extreme inclusion. Send disruptive and low performing students to reform schools and let the well behaved and focused students carry on in peace.
Joey – thank you for verifying my belief that charter schools are just free, white flight, private schools paid for with much needed public school funding.
You aren’t wrong and it is certainly inefficient to duplicate school resources. Traditional public schools need to revert to a model where it is easy to get thrown out and hard to get back in. So much effort and classroom resources are expended in failing attempts to educate that bottom 5-10% of students, all of which comes at a detriment to the 90% or so of engaged students. The model of “no child left behind” needs to be replaced with “doing the best for the greatest number of people”. The sooner we accept that some kids are rotten, stupid, or both, the sooner we can separate the what from the chaff and restore our public school system to flagship status
We can thank then Governor Tom Carper for this idea, and sending his own children to them.
I didn’t think about that — and it’s a really good point. Everything isn’t perfect in public schools, but charter schools siphon funds. My parents sent me to Catholic school primarily because they were Catholic. However, the neighborhood public schools (I grew up inside the city limits) weren’t an option — underfunded, understaffed, and then the actual age of the schools and the problems with asbestos, lead, etc. I know I was privileged but do believe in supporting public schools. Some of the rhetoric you read is just so short-sighted and selfish.
Charter, voucher, etc just siphon funds from the actual student. I hear about other states implementing voucher programs, and it’s just another way to transfer money to the pockets of people who have no investment in the community or the kids. I agree with Karen completely
Charter Schools do siphon money from Brandywine, just not in the same numbers as Red Clay. When a student from BSD attends a charter, the charter gets money from BSD. If the upcoming Red Clay referendum does not pass, someone needs to keep an eye on the charters to see if they all of the sudden accept more students from Brandywine because of the higher per student expense and subsequent reimbursement.
Ha ha….
“Without sufficient funding, officials could be forced to release between 4,000 and 6,000 migrants from long-term immigration detention centers, according to the official, who requested anonymity”
Was also thrilled that the BSD referendum passed–and passed easily.
I showed up to vote wearing a Brandywine HS sweatshirt that my daughter had gotten me for Christmas–you know, because I never really outgrew high school. Offered to sing the Alma Mater. Offer was rejected…
I am a graduate of Catholic schools whose children also attended Catholic school. I live in BSD and support the referendum. Our community needs good public schools, and this is one way to ensure that we have them.