Delaware
Testing. Performance. Assessment. It’s All Fucking Bullshit.
Governor Markell thinks that Delaware students are taking too many tests, probably because he required them to take too many tests, and so Governor Markell is going to reduce the number of tests so as to relieve the massive burden he placed on teachers and students. How nice of him. Of course, he is not eliminating tests immediately. He wants a review of the situation, another task force, to determine which state and district wide tests are redundant, and then we will do away with the duplicative tests. So it’s not that tests are bad, or that many tests are bad, so long as they are not duplicative. So this is a delaying tactic to respond to the rapidly growing movement that is opposed to a lot of Markell-based and Federal-based efforts to reform education. People are upset, so maybe this announcement will placate some.
To me, it ignores the core (no pun intended) of the issue.
Why are we testing?
Friday Daily Delawhere [3.13.15]
![Friday Daily Delawhere [3.13.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8678/16539673177_ea9e832dc1_c.jpg "Friday Daily Delawhere [3.13.15]")
The Tatnall House, on Market Street in Wilmington’s Brandywine Village. The house was built in 1770, and was once the headquarters for Revolutionary War general Anthony Wayne. George Washington held council in the house, as well. The house was altered in the 1840s. Photo by xzmattzx.
Is Jack Markell Fighting His Ongoing War Against State Employees By Himself?
8-ball sez: Signs point to ‘yes’. From 2008 to today, Governor Jack Markell has never, repeat, never, proposed a raise for state employees and retirees. He has, on several occasions, proposed shifting costs from the state onto the workers and retirees. Jack Markell is a putative Democrat. When it comes to who gets rewarded and […]
Wednesday Daily Delawhere [3.11.15]
![Wednesday Daily Delawhere [3.11.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8658/16721034846_e4e02d0162_c.jpg "Wednesday Daily Delawhere [3.11.15]")
Doorsteps along The Strand in New Castle. Many of the houses on the south side of The Strand were built in 1824, following a fire that wiped out almost the entire block. Photo by xzmattzx.
Tuesday Daily Delawhere [3.10.15]
![Tuesday Daily Delawhere [3.10.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8597/16721034896_963d6de7a1_c.jpg "Tuesday Daily Delawhere [3.10.15]")
Howard High School of Technology, on Poplar Street in Wilmington. The high school was built in 1928 on Poplar Street and named after general Oliver Otis Howard. The school was the first secondary school for African Americans in the state of Delaware, set up in 1867. Howard High School was one of the 5 schools […]
![Monday Daily Delawhere [3.9.15]](http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6196/6095010171_756b82b6f1_z.jpg "Monday Daily Delawhere [3.9.15]")
![Sunday Daily Delawhere [3.8.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8638/16486961977_9e8f970157_c.jpg "Sunday Daily Delawhere [3.8.15]")
The Weekly Addresses
President Obama discusses education for adolescent girls around the world.
Governor Markell talks about Delaware’s efforts to combat climate change, and he encourages Delawareans to take action by providing input and ideas to recommendations released earlier this week by the Committee on Climate and Resiliency.
Speaker Schwartzkopf speaks on the Lyme Disease Prevention Task Force that is working to spread awareness about the disease and formulate ways to improve diagnosis and treatment statewide.
![Saturday Daily Delawhere [3.7.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8661/16432196540_90bec8ac90_c.jpg "Saturday Daily Delawhere [3.7.15]")
![Friday Daily Delawhere [3.6.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8570/16506655668_31d8d94c15_c.jpg "Friday Daily Delawhere [3.6.15]")
Thursday Daily Delawhere [3.5.15]
![Thursday Daily Delawhere [3.5.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8598/15724534743_d2b197e9de_c.jpg "Thursday Daily Delawhere [3.5.15]")
Klondike Kate’s on Main Street in Newark in light snow, by the Flying Inn on Flickr.
DL Exclusive: Hundreds of Politicians/PACs in Violation of State Campaign Finance Law. Nobody’s Collecting the Fines.
Deadbeat campaigns, committees and PAC’s currently owe the Delaware Department of Elections (long pause to change the batteries in my calculator)…$769,240. I count 258 individual fines that have been assessed, but never collected.
Some of the outstanding fines are gargantuan. Some appear to have close correlation to key political events, so the committees involved not only owe the money, they have some ‘splainin’ to do.
Since the largest fines have been imposed on the Sussex County Democratic Executive Committee, and since they date back to the year (2008) when an incredible array of resources were poured into the race to elect John Atkins to the General Assembly, possibly cementing a D majority in the House, and since not a nickel has been paid back, I can only ask, “Why?”. Why no action? (Late-breaking news: According to both the Commissioner of Elections and the current Sussex County chair, that $160,000-plus fine has now been labeled an ‘error’. Because, as we all know, $160,000 fines are levied in error every day. Where is Rose Mary Woods when we need her?)
Here’s how the system is supposed to work, according to sources both within the State Department of Elections and the Office of the Attorney General. After about 60 days or so, uncollected fines/violations are turned over to the Attorney General’s office for follow-up, according to Elaine Manlove, Commissioner of Elections. It is clear that little to no follow-up has occurred since, well, 2008, at least. Multiple sources have told me that they have not even received any notification from the AG’s office that they are in violation. Not that they shouldn’t already know, but still…
Here’s what Carl Kanefsky of the AG’s office says of the way it’s supposed to work….
![Wednesday Daily Delawhere [3.4.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8655/16508099219_945e3c7889_c.jpg "Wednesday Daily Delawhere [3.4.15]")
Recent Comments