Lie of the Year. Perhaps of the Decade.

Lie of the Year. Perhaps of the Decade.

19 Comments
In a dog-bites-man story, the despicable House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, aka 'Pete's Enforcer', sought to essentially narc out someone who had the temerity to question the raises that D House leadership bestowed upon its staff.  Longhurst did it by leaking an e-mail exchange and issuing a veiled threat to the constituent's employer.  This News-Journal story captures the essence of Longhurst as well as anything I've read. Please read the story. You'll see that Longhurst is first utterly disingenuous in somehow claiming that she HAD NO IDEA whether the e-mail in question reflected the official position of the University of Delaware.  Her intent was clear: To get the employee in trouble, and to underline that the General Assembly, due to its infinite charity, provides funds to the University of Delaware and, gee, wouldn't it be a shame if that relationship was threatened by this e-mail? And, now, to the Lie of the Year.  In Delaware, this is almost certainly the Lie of the Decade:
“I was just asking a question,” Longhurst said. “I’ve never bullied anybody. If that’s the perception, that’s the perception." “How is it intimidating?” she told The News Journal. “I just raised a question.”
Markell, Chamber & Rethugs Rigging the Game for 2016. D ( )eadership AWO(L).

Markell, Chamber & Rethugs Rigging the Game for 2016. D ( )eadership AWO(L).

25 Comments
Anybody paying attention can see what's going on. The alleged D leaders in the General Assembly either aren't paying attention, or they're in the bag as well. Stated simply: Gov. Markell, aided and abetted by his pro-business propagandists, is pursuing a strategy of forcing cuts on the most vulnerable with NO consideration being given to increasing revenues as a means of closing the budget gap. You're already familiar with the choreographed calls for cuts to health care, public education, and state employees emanating from the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable.

Join the Wilmington Parent Advocacy Council for Education

If you live in Wilmington and are a parent, grandparent, foster parent, guardian, primary caregiver, student or just plain concerned community member -- this is a newly formed group that is going to advocate for better equity, access and educational opportunity for Wilmington kids. From the brochure:
The PACE Network joins adults, youth and educators together to imagine, create and advocate for equity, access and more effective learning in schools and community places. The Vision is to ensure all Wilmington youth safely attend quality early learning programs, read on level by 3rd grade, excel in reading, math, science, social studies, technology, arts, sports, extracurricular activities and graduate high school prepared for college/career success. The PACE Network aims to shape a unified voice to advocate for Wilmington students. Families and city residents play a critical role in our children’s education. Network membership is open to parents, grandparents, community members, guardians, foster parents, educators in early care, pre-schools, districts and charter schools enrolling Wilmington students.
State GOP Gives Sussex Republican Committee A Spanking Over Disparaging Remarks About Women

State GOP Gives Sussex Republican Committee A Spanking Over Disparaging Remarks About Women

3 Comments
Wonder if these "rules" will apply to Dem women? Here's the Delaware Republican Party statement:
Newark, DE: Delaware Republican Party Chairman Charlie Copeland has issued the following statement regarding the release of disturbing audio tapes in which Sussex County GOP officials make offensive comments about women leaders in the Delaware Republican Party and about women in general: The recent release of audio recordings by DelawareRight.com in which Sussex County Republican leaders take aim at leaders of the Delaware Federation of Republican Women and the Sussex County Republican Women are offensive and counter to the fundamental beliefs of the Republican Party.
Townsend Is In!

Townsend Is In!

26 Comments
Received this just awhile ago:
Dear Friends, Today, I ask for your support as I announce my campaign to represent Delaware in Congress.  Delaware faces a significant challenge: rebuilding an economy that works for all Delawareans and that reverses the inequality spreading across America. That’s why our campaign will champion policies that grow and strengthen the middle class, provide every child with an opportunity to succeed, promote equal justice in the criminal justice system, and ensure retirement security for our seniors. Four years ago, I was joined by students, community leaders, and neighbors in a grassroots campaign for the Delaware State Senate. Although some doubted our prospects, Delawareans like you showed they’d back a candidate who reaches out, listens, and will always do the right thing for Delaware, even when it’s the hard thing.
Guest Post: Crossroads Wants to Tell Its Own Story

Guest Post: Crossroads Wants to Tell Its Own Story

18 Comments
Crossroads and its principals have been much in the news recently and subject of a recent post here. Since Crossroads was not contacted in the recent post here, I offered them the chance to tell their story, themselves. That is the guest post from Alberta Crowley that follows. I'm also going to be clear that I know that Crossroads is doing incredible work with a population that is never well served -- urban poor kids with mental health and addiction issues. They've certainly had their problems -- with recent unethical behavior and with a long-running tug-of-war with the state over resources to serve these kids. I'm interested in helping these kids and the people who do -- which is why I'm posting Crossroads story here.
Guest Post: Opt-Out Ends The Madness Of High-Stakes Testing

Guest Post: Opt-Out Ends The Madness Of High-Stakes Testing

4 Comments
Kevin from Exceptional Delaware asked if we could share his post. The State Board of Education is having their monthly meeting at 1:00pm today. The Parent Strike press conference will begin prior to the meeting at 12:30pm in front of Legislative Hall in Dover. If any of our readers attend, let us know in the comments.
As a proud advocate of parent opt out, I watched in horror as Governor Markell vetoed legislation created for parents and their fundamental rights.  The News Journal  refers to House Bill 50 as giving parents the right to opt out.  This is wrong.  It’s about honoring a parental right that already exists, an attempt to codify that right and stop schools and the Delaware Department of Education from punishing schools over parent opt-out. Today, the State Board of Education will have their monthly meeting, and they will discuss Regulation 103.  To give some quick back-story here, Regulation 103 covers school accountability.  Born out of Race To The Top, Delaware won in the first round partly because we already had this regulation in place.  Race To The Top was an abject failure.  But the DOE and the State Board are attempting to further legitimize this program under the guise of the Delaware School Success Framework.  This “school report card” is nothing more than Federal mandate PLUS the many layers of complexity the DOE added to it.  This regulation will put any Title I school in jeopardy if the students don’t perform well on Smarter Balanced.  This week, we will hear about the creation of 10 new so-called “Focus Schools” and 4 “Focus Plus Schools”.  The DOE will attempt to sell this as yet another way of “fixing” these high-need schools.  The truth is, these labels are punitive in nature and are just another step before they become “Priority Schools”.  We all know how that went a year ago.
Comment Rescue: Dorian Gray, Education And The Uncomfortable Truth

Comment Rescue: Dorian Gray, Education And The Uncomfortable Truth

16 Comments
I keep going back to Dorian's comment on my Education post. Here is what he said:
I have a solution that nobody will like. It’s warranted and would address the very neediest, but good luck convincing anybody… Start paying reparations in the form of schools. The idea that how good a public school is is based on where your parents/guardians live is one of the biggest examples of institutional racism I can think of (beside mass incarceration, maybe). What other public services work this way? Can you imagine if people moved to ensure their post office was the very best rated post office in the area!
This Barbieri Business Does. Not. Look. Good.

This Barbieri Business Does. Not. Look. Good.

21 Comments
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

63 Comments
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…

The Most Important Delaware Race of 2016…

26 Comments
...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

22 Comments
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)
. 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.