BREAKING: Red Clay Teachers Call For DSEA To Withdraw Its Endorsement Of BHL
Never knew I had so many teacher friends. (Stating the obvious, none had to deal with me in the classroom.) But, starting this morning, several were in touch with me about this as I guess they all received the letter either at home or at school (I think this was the first day back for many teachers). Here is the body of the letter:
RED CLAY EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION, INC.
4135 Ogletown Stanton Road, Suite 100,
Newark, Delaware 19713-4180
Phone: (302) 366-8440 Fax: (302) 366-0287August 5th, 2024
To the Delaware State Education Association Leadership Team and Executive Board:
On behalf of the Red Clay Education Association, I am writing to formally request the immediate withdrawal of the DSEA endorsement of Bethany Hall-Long for Governor, and
to cease all political action contributions associated with this endorsement. This decision has not been made lightly. Our executive board has reviewed multiple news reports of improprieties in the campaign’s finances. Additionally, the Lt. Governor’s campaign has demonstrated continued disregard for rectifying concerns regarding these financial reports.Over the last few weeks, a steady number of reports have come to light with respect to the instances during which the Lt. Governor’s campaign has broken campaign finance reporting
laws (WHYY), and attempted to keep a forensic review hidden from the public (WaPo, TNJ). We take this pattern of behavior as an urgent warning against the Lt. Governor’s political ethics.
These reports go against what our endorsement, let alone our organization, stands for.There is precedent for rescinding an endorsement. Back in 2018, RCEA endorsed a candidate for school board. We initially believed the candidate was the best choice to represent
the interests of our members. Not long after the endorsement, the candidate made controversial and inflammatory statements at a public event. The DSEA Director of Legislative and Political
Strategy immediately called RCEA to request that we walk back the endorsement. DSEA did not feel it was in our members’ best interests, and they would not be able to add their name to our
endorsement. The RCEA executive board reconvened and voted to endorse no candidate.We are asking DSEA to consider the same process.
We believe it is our duty as engaged union members to hold DSEA-endorsed candidates to the highest standards regarding both legislation and morality. We recognize Bethany Hall-Long has supported many of our organization’s goals in Dover. Our appreciation for this work cannot overlook serious lapses in judgement. Our endorsement is, and should continue to be, the gold standard. Respected organizations like ours should not give our seal of approval to candidates who cannot meet simple litmus tests of honesty, transparency, and integrity.
In Solidarity,
Steven Fackenthall
President, Red Clay Education Association
Will other district chapters join them, or have they already done so? I think what RCEA did reflects positively on the ethics and honesty of their members.
BTW, don’t think this story has appeared elsewhere. So, if someone wishes to pick it up, at least give us a shout-out. We do that every time we highlight a story we think is worth reading. Oh, and we provide a link. Reflects positively on our ethics and honesty.
Matt Meyer is the only candidate in this race with a real plan for education.
Yeah, I’ve read it. It’s dead on arrival, unless you think the public is interested in spending $6,000 more per student. The current average is $15,000. That comes out to about $740 million, which would represent a 12% increase in the state’s $6.1 billion budget.
If you’re looking for a way to get people to vote for Republicans, go ahead and propose that.
I’m interested in investing more into our public education system, and I think we need to overhaul our funding structure anyways.
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss a massive infusion of targeted resources into public education, fully recognizing the costs.
Both Meyer and O’Mara have proposals along those lines. Equally importantly, quite a few legislators, including some who don’t fit the ‘pie in the sky’ meme, have embraced the notion that creeping incrementalism simply isn’t working. The results show that to be true.
It can be done, both with changes in how we generate revenue, and also in priorities.
I would agree, both Meyer and to a lesser degree O’Mara have outlined education plans to fix the funding formula and while that may mean more money in areas that need it, it would most certainly mean that money was used more effectively and that funding was based on a student need. Others, like Carney has done and BHL has said she would continue, have just put band-aids on the broken funding model, but we all know you can’t fix a broken leg with a band-aid. It is time to rip off the layers of band-aids and operate on the system.
Well, yes, everyone should agree with broadly expressed goals like the ones you two have mentioned. Those aren’t plans.
The report Meyer backs said we should increase funding tenfold per disadvantaged student. You don’t think Republicans could run on that? Your taxes will going to them? Dream on.
Besides, none of them has said boo about charter schools, which have fouled up the system and will foul up any new system unless they’re addressed. And charter schools are a minefield for politicians, so good luck selling any meaningful change.
I think the best solution to the funding problem would be to take away the reassessment responsibility from the counties, who have shown they won’t do it even if the law says they must, and in turn fund the schools through a statewide property tax, rather than the system-by-system method we used now, which produces wide disparities in spending per student.
But seriously, now. Do you really think you can sell the public on that large an investment in public education? The difficulty of school districts to pass their referendums informs my answer.
I think a popular governor with a more enlightened General Assembly behind them can muster a lot more support than individual districts up and down the state.
Carney didn’t even bother to try to sell an educational agenda.
It’s also an economic development issue, a workforce development issue, and a standard-of-living issue.
Well, that’s specific. Proves my point. Let’s spend more money! On what, the same stuff that’s not working now?
There is this real Delaware mindset that anything that costs any money will be absolutely destructive. It’s a kind of bizarrely engrained thing here I haven’t seen in any other state.
Big investments CAN be made. Look at the stuff happening in Minnesota and Colorado…raising revenue, spending it…and the Democratic majorities and governor are getting re-elected.
People like results. Full stop.
This is the 100% biggest mindset shift necessary to get away from the old Delaware Way.
I like results too. I’ve never seen any in public education, so if you tell me you want to spend money, first I want to see how you’re going to spend it.
And before you tell me about individual schools, show me how it works at scale. This has always been the stumbling block. Meyer talks about his personal experience teaching, but offers no details on how that scales up.
I like details. Full stop.
Up to the mid-70s minority students were isolated in the old Wilmington school district, and students with disabilities often didn’t attend regular schools at all. But well-off and white suburban districts experienced a so-called “golden age” of public education.
After the courts ordered us to educate ALL our students, Delaware never was willing to do that. Instead the well-off suburban homeowners created a system of publicly-funded charter and magnet schools (mostly segregated), which continue to experience a “golden age” at the expense of students in traditional public schools. The courts eventually relented and said “OK, good enough.”
That’s what I mean about dealing with charters.
I don’t know the answer, but I don’t think anyone else does, either. If it were possible, which I don’t think it is, I’d take reassessment away from the counties, who refuse to do it and broke the law for years to prove it, and give it to the state. Divvy up property tax money statewide, instead of allowing the district-by-district disparities that have some districts spending $9K per student and others spending $19K.
I don’t know if that would work, but I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to adopt. People don’t like giving up the status quo even when it sucks. And that’s why I’m skeptical of anybody’s campaign-trail promises about improving education.
Haven’t they already given her a fortune in advertising, though? I’m not seeing how a call for rescinding support will make much difference at this point.
Glad Red Clay is sticking to their principles, however. Now if only Christina could stick with its superintendent…
All of her advertising focuses virtually exclusively on her endorsements. There’s a new ad like that from the Democratic Lieutenant Governors’ Association. It will be unavoidable during the convention.
Any demonstration that Democrats aren’t (nearly) as unified as BHL would have you believe is a big plus.
It helps break through the “this is fine” bullshit the unions are pushing. People still aren’t aware she’s a thief.
It would help immensely if what used to be the state’s largest newspaper would stop pretending she’s not one.
Correct me if I’m wrong: She claims to have spend $300,000 of her own money on campaign expenses. Receipts or it’s bullshit, and that’s what the newspaper should be saying. Oh, I forgot, there’s no editorial board anymore. Fucking joke of a newspaper. The sooner it dies, the sooner something useful can replace it.
The trade unions here are trash. Half of them are Trumpers who only vote Dem for specific slots.
Their endorsement is a candidate albatross to voters who pay attention to politics. Bonus points to any politician who doesn’t seek their support. Demerits to any politician who receives it.
Well, it’s really one guy, Jimmy Maravelias.
Do you think those Laborers in New Jersey know that he’s rifling their treasury to throw money at BHL?
This ties into the education issue. BHL’s support for education, and a good portion of state spending on it, comes in the form of new buildings.