Delaware
This Barbieri Business Does. Not. Look. Good.
I’ve made no secret of my opinion that Mike Barbieri was one of the most effective legislators in Dover during his time there. A serious legislator with the willingness to build coalitions to pass progressive legislation that helps some of our most vulnerable citizens.
Having said that, the relationships between Barbieri, his company (Crossroads of Delaware), the state, and his recent hiring by the state raise all sorts of questions that require answers.
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Poverty And The Smarter Balanced Assessment
Last week LiberalGeek took a comment I posted about the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) scores and turned it into a graph. Now we have many graphs and charts.
Inside you will find charts of the four districts that serve city of Wilmington students (click on charts inside to enlarge). You will also find a chart of Charter Schools. Pay attention to the trend lines. Some are more obvious than others. Before I continue, let me say this: I do not support the SBA, but since we’ll be using these scores to judge and label students, teachers and schools we need to look at the data. This test will have consequences.
The Most Important Delaware Race of 2016…
…will be the primary for US Congress between State Rep. Bryon Short and State Senator Bryan Townsend.
It is a battle of the present (and, one hopes, the past) of the Democratic Party vs. a more progressive future.
Make no mistake: Bryon Short is the chosen heir to the mantle of middle-of-the-road mediocrity personified by Tom Carper and John Carney. He, or more likely Ed Freel and his ilk, have chosen ex-Carper staffer Mat Marshall to run his campaign. Carper’s ‘Brain’, Ed Freel, is calling the shots from his UD bunker. Short, of course, served in Carper’s congressional office, and has made no bones about his friendship with Carper and Carney. You may also recall that Bryon Short bottled up a minimum wage increase in his House committee until the bill was essentially emasculated. Although strong on social issues, Short’s principal legislative focus has been on cutting yet more ‘red tape’ that, according to the Chamber and its allies, hobble businesses in Delaware. In fact, Short essentially had a committee created just for him with this run in mind: The (get this) House Economic Development/ Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee, aka The Business Lapdog Committee.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Results Are In
I’m not even sure where to begin. I’ll start here:
Only half of Delaware students are proficient in English and fewer than four in 10 are proficient in math, according to results of the state’s tough new standardized test, the Smarter Balanced Assessment. (link takes you to the results)
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It’s no secret I’m not a fan of standardized tests, mainly because I think we’re using them incorrectly. We focus on handing out gold stars to schools who pass and slap “failing” labels on schools that don’t. But… maybe this is changing?
“There will certainly be an increase in regards to how the state allocates resources–and that’s really part of the value here–let’s understand which districts and which schools have the greatest struggles, and let’s make sure that we, as a state, are able to allocate resources to those students who need it most.”
Hey, that sounds like equitable funding. Could it be? I’m skeptical tho, since I lived through the Priority School fiasco. “Allocate resources” is usually followed with the threat of charter conversion, privatization and closure. We’ll see. That said, if these tests were actually used to help struggling schools (instead of punishing them) I’d change my tune.
18th RD: David Bentz Is the Real Deal
I’m quite impressed with the progressive positions he has taken on the issues, and I hope we can all do whatever it takes to help him win the Special Election. I’ve decided to print the entire endorsement from Progressive Democrats of Delaware, because he really spells out his positions here:
“Waiting For Carn(e)y”
“Carn(e)y: I can’t go on.
Greek Chorus*: You must go on.”
Curtain.
*Greek Chorus consists of Ed Freel, bifocals at half-mast; Rich Heffron; Sean Barney; Vince Meconi, trolling for yet another high paying job; banking executives; The ‘titular’ leaders of the Democratic Party, including Carper, Coons and Markell; and a cast of insider party aparatchiks with visions of cabinet posts dancing in their heads.
Those not in the Greek Chorus: Progressives. And/or people who support a living wage and/or tax fairness. Plus, of course, the poor.
Carper’s a ‘Yes’ On Iran Deal!
Real good news to start the day:
“I still have serious doubts about their government. So does the Obama administration, for that matter. That’s why this deal is based on mistrust. If some future Iranian regime decides to violate the agreement, we’ll know it.”
I like that quote. Coons to announce his position on Tuesday. Carney, of course, hasn’t made up his mind.
The Nest Is Empty And, Boy, Does It Feel Strange
I haven’t been blogging a lot because this spring and summer have been crazy. My youngest graduated high school, had her wisdom teeth removed, and attended orientation at the university she finally decided on. My oldest knocked off a summer course at UD (He’s starting his senior year of Mech Engineering and decided to take a required gen-ed Philosophy course over the summer mainly because he knew he wouldn’t give it the attention it needed given his course load this year. Sounded like a good philosophy to me!) Add to that all the shopping for my daughter’s dorm, ordering textbooks, finalizing class schedules, endless list making, packing up two kids, scheduling doctor’s appointments before both of them left the state, and fitting in a lot of family time and you’ll see why my blogging lagged.
I still read DL every day!
But this weekend everything came to a screeching halt. They left. In the blink of an eye I went from having a million things to do and a house full of people (and chaos!) to… silence. That freaked me out.
Hillary raising money in Joe Biden country
Hillary Clinton is coming to Rehoboth Beach, so please don’t mention Joe Biden while she’s here.
Friday News Dump: Murphy Heads for the Exits
Mark Murphy, co-destroyer of public education along with his governor and boss, is leaving for another ‘opportunity’, not yet announced: “Education Secretary Mark Murphy to Leave Administration after Successful Tenure Marked by Improved Student Achievement Governor nominates long-time Delaware superintendent and leader in state’s schools to build on tremendous progress Dover, DE – Education Secretary Mark […]
Maybe This Is Why The City Wants State Funds For WPD Foot Patrols
Because Wilmington taxpayers spending $8,000 on Uber billboards. Not that $8K would go far in terms of additional policing, but this shows you the fiscal priorities of this Mayor while he and his Police Chief have decided that schilling for more funds from the State is their main job.
The city Office of Economic Development is spending $8,000 under a one-month contract for four billboards with the message “Wilmington proudly welcomes UBER” and a picture of Williams. The billboards also include a website address where residents can apply to become a driver for the service.
Cannonball! Should Biden disrupt the 2016 election?
To quote Ron Burgandy, “That escalated quickly.”
Where Are The Smarter Balanced Test Results?
According to Kavips (posted on August 1st):
It has been 7 days now that the Delaware Department has sat on the results of the Smarter Balanced Assessments. Day one was the release by other states of their preliminary data alerting all that the state now had the results…
One must ask why in the “most open and transparent administration in Delaware’s history” (Markell’s state of the state claim) we are still waiting for the preliminary data to be released.
Do we really have the results? The test was given last spring (March and April) so you’d think for a test to have educational impact the results would be available quickly.
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