Delaware
Kavips asks… Should Cathy Cloutier become a Democrat?
He makes the point that she is the one who is in touch with her constituents, and her party is not, thus explaining all the votes that go against her party (universal background check, lost and stolen gun reporting, marriage equality, death penalty repeal). But that is not the reason for switching parties….
I was saddened to hear her Good Samaritan Bill (SB 116) was caught up in the maelstrom of Republican bills that must be shut out due to there just not being enough time to consider it. Had she been of the Democratic caucus, her bill could have been heard with majority of social legislation pieces that were vetted last month.
So if Kavips is right, if Cloutier wants to see her bills move, it would help being in the majority party. And given some recent divergences from the Republican Party on key votes, you think she might be so inclined to switch.
Monday Daily Delawhere [6.10.13]
![Monday Daily Delawhere [6.10.13]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8279/9005307233_488d11dec6_z.jpg "Monday Daily Delawhere [6.10.13]")
Sorry this is late this morning. A little bit of morning rain and people forget how to drive. This morning’s photo is of the old New Castle County Courthouse on Rodney Square in Wilmington. The Courthouse first was purchased and rehab-ed by MBNA/Bank of America, and then the local powerhouse lawfirm Young Conaway took it […]
![Sunday Daily Delawhere [6.9.13]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3775/8929971068_8b750f47ba_z.jpg "Sunday Daily Delawhere [6.9.13]")
![Saturday Daily Delawhere [6.8.13]](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5453/8929970656_2391b858ce_z.jpg "Saturday Daily Delawhere [6.8.13]")
![Friday Daily Delawhere [6.7.13]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7453/8929361943_da6b11a934_z.jpg "Friday Daily Delawhere [6.7.13]")
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., June 6, 2013
I knew, I just KNEW, that I was gonna like State Rep. Kim Williams. I had liked her votes, I had liked her positions during the campaign, and I loved her work on simplifying school choice for students and parents. But yesterday she demonstrated why she is an invaluable member of the Delaware General Assembly with this quote, courtesy of the News-Journal:
“Until recently, I was on the Red Clay School Board, and we were never informed of the specifics of this bill. I feel that we need to get more public input.”
Or at least SOME public input.
The Markell Administration is pushing HB 165(Jaques) to the max. In fact, I think they tried to put one over even on the legislators who are sponsoring this bill. Rep. Earl Jaques made clear that this bill is not going to be rushed through:
“We have a bill in front of us, let’s discuss this bill. The time for the public to get involved is now, while we’re discussing this legislation.”
Others on this blog have done a far better job of describing the issues raised by this bill than I ever could. What particularly galls me is that we don’t even know officially where this bill came from. There was indeed a group created to review ways to improve charter schools. Hell, the list has been provided here. But, get this, even though Gov. Markell appointed the 24-member working group, he claims that this group had no real authority and, as such, public meetings were not required. So much for ‘Governor Transparency’. That is one of the most disingenuous things I’ve heard out of this Administration, which is really saying something. Shades of the Port of Wilmington deal.
But, I digress. HB 165 barely made it out of the House Education Committee, 7-6. It is far from ready for prime time. It is June 6. People are already on vacation, including teachers, students, and parents. There is no way that this bill should be worked by June 30. Let’s just see what this Governor does…
![Thursday Daily Delawhere [6.6.13]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/8929969560_35fdfd2184_z.jpg "Thursday Daily Delawhere [6.6.13]")
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 5, 2013
SB 97(Henry), which would add ‘gender identity’ to the “already-existing list of prohibited practices of discrimination and hate crimes. As such, this Act would forbid discrimination against a person on the basis of gender identity in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance, and it would provide for increased punishment of a person who intentionally selects the victim of a crime because of the victim’s gender identity.” In Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee will also consider HB 88 As Amended(Barbieri), which attempts to keep weapons away from those who are dangerously mentally-ill. The bill passed the House with only one no vote. You can read a compelling narrative on behalf of SB 97 here.
I can’t hope to top that, and I won’t. Except to say that the Senate has an agenda today. I don’t find much of interest there, but feel free to rummage around.
![Wednesday Daily Delawhere [6.5.13]](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3718/8929969298_461b194063_z.jpg "Wednesday Daily Delawhere [6.5.13]")
Did Wilmington’s Mayor Try to Funnel $4 Million to Southbridge Church?
On today’s Al Mascitti Show on WDEL, featuring notable guest El Somnambulo, both a City Council member and a city pastor alleged that the Williams Administration budgeted $4 million that would go to a Southbridge church to help build a gymnasium. According to both Wilmington Councilman Michael Brown and Reverend Derrick Johnson, the church in question is the church of City Councilman Justen Wright.
Tuesday Open Thread [6.4.13]
The Washington Post has a interesting article on the House GOP breaking into factions after the fiscal cliff vote and how Speaker John Boehner ultimately held onto his job during the Williamsburg Summit. Basically, God spared Boehner.
“Barely 36 hours after the caustic New Year’s Day vote, Boehner faced a coup attempt from a clutch of renegade conservatives. The cabal quickly fell apart when several Republicans, after a night of prayer, said God told them to spare the speaker. Still, Boehner came within a few votes of failing to secure his speakership on the initial vote, an outcome that would have forced a second ballot for the first time in nearly a century.”
You know, I pray. But I have never received an answer to those prayers from God. I may discern God’s intentions and will myself from subsequent events, but that is my own deduction and analysis, based on my knowledge of God and myself. But I never heard God’s voice, either disembodied in the air somewhere or in my own head, answer my prayer. So I think we need some clarification here from our wonderful Republican congressman. Did they hear a voice? Or instead, did they estimate what God’s probable answer would be from their own reflections and knowledge? I would respect them if the answer is the latter. If the answer is the former, they are psychotic and must be institutionalized as soon as possible.
The Deliberate Destruction Of Public Schools
First, Education Reform has very little to do with improving education. It does, however, have a lot to do with union busting and corporations tapping into all that delicious tax payer education money. It also thrives on propaganda.
When discussing education today there’s one theme that remains consistent: Public education is failing our kids! Our children aren’t learning! Just look at the test scores!
Okay, let’s look at the test scores:
- The chart below shows overall reading and math scores for 9-year-olds starting in the early ’70s. Since then, reading scores have gone up 12 points and math scores have gone up 24 points. Ten points on the NAEP roughly equals one grade level, which means that today’s 9-year-olds are performing more than a full grade level better in reading and two grade levels better in math compared to the ’70s.
- Scores for blacks and Latinos are up more than scores for whites. In reading, as the chart above shows, white kids’ scores are up 14 points, while Latinos’ have risen 24 points and blacks’ 34 points. In math, scores for white kids are up 25 points, while Latinos’ have jumped 32 points and blacks’ 34 points. There’s still a significant gap between whites and other groups, but we’ve been making steady—and largely unheralded—progress for the past 40 years.
- Private schools have done well, with reading scores up 10 points and math scores up 22 points, but public schools have also improved in reading (4 points) and math (25 points). Overall, the rise in test scores is due to improvements at both private and public schools.
Interesting, no? And yet you rarely, if ever, hear about these results. Don’t get me wrong. There are problems, especially when children reach high school, and that must be addressed, but the idea that public schools aren’t educating children is nothing more than the Ed Reformers’ Marketing Strategy.
Guest Post: It’s Time for Fairness for Transgender Delawareans
We welcome back to DL a Delaware politico who made her mark on Delaware politics while still in high school as a member of the Jack Pack. Sarah McBride writes today about her experience as a Transgender person.
My name is Sarah McBride. I’m a daughter, sister, friend, film-buff, political volunteer, and a recent college graduate. I’m also transgender.
When I came out a little over a year ago, I asked Delaware Liberal to publish my coming out letter in order to raise awareness around gender identity nondiscrimination and the lack of basic protections for transgender Delawareans.
It’s 2013. Yet, in Delaware, a person can be fired from their job simply because they are transgender. We can be denied housing or insurance for no reason other than our gender identity. And we can be thrown out of a restaurant or denied service because of who we are.
According to a recent survey, more than 25% of transgender people report losing their job because they are transgender and nearly 20% report being denied housing. While the vast majority of Delawareans are inclusive and accepting people, it only takes one person’s prejudice in a state without basic protections to harm someone and to destroy the reputation of a great state.
Discrimination based on someone’s identity is inherently wrong and it is certainly not the Delaware way.
This month we can take an important step forward in ending discrimination in our state. Last week, Senator Margaret Rose Henry and Representative Bryon Short, as well as nearly 20 other members of the General Assembly, introduced the Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Act of 2013. This bill would add gender identity, a person’s deeply held sense of their gender, to our state’s hate crimes and employment, housing, insurance, and public accommodations laws.
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