Tag: Priority Schools
A Literal “Yes” or “No” Question
If you’re like me, you know the law states the State Board of Education must vote yea or nay on WEIC as a whole package, as it is submitted by the Commission. No amendments, no language changes, just a straight yes or no, and they had to vote. If you’re like me, you may also remember that in January the State Board decided to not vote at all on the plan, as they were legally required to do, and handed it back to Tony Allen with their reasoning for not supporting it. Remember that part about having to vote? Pepperidge Farm Remembers.
LIVE from the Red Clay Consolidated School District Special Board Meeting on WEIC
Red Clay’s Board of Education has called a special session public meeting this evening. The lone topic on the agenda is WEIC.
This will be my attempt at live blogging the meeting, start to finish. You can check out the agenda and related documents from Red Clay’s BoardDocs site: http://www.boarddocs.com/de/rccsd/Board.nsf/Public
Meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30pm.
Redrawing School District Lines
I have been on record saying that Delaware has too many school districts. 19 public/Vo-Tech school districts and 18 (and counting) charter districts. Each charter school is its own district. To me, that’s simply too much administrative overhead. Which brings us to the plan of reducing the number of districts in the city of Wilmington. Something I support, but know that the devil’s in the details.
When the Wilmington Education Advisory Committee (WEAC) submitted its report to the Governor, one of its suggestions was removing Christina and Colonial School Districts from the city and having the only two districts (Red Clay and Brandywine) serve the city.
As a city resident the idea of fewer school districts sounds wonderful. Having four districts fractured the city’s voice. It was hard to organize and advocate for city kids since school districts would only listen to people who lived in their district about concerns with their district. I do understand that, but it was extremely frustrating. Especially since 99% of our concerns applied to every district. But those district lines sent us off in four different directions, with less people, and were easily ignored. And, make no mistake, we were ignored. The districts’ go-to solution was always to form a committee to study the problem. Where all those committee reports ended up… I have no idea. And it was infuriating to keep bringing up the same concerns year after year only to have district administrators feign surprise and call for a new committee. So, most city residents would be happy with fewer school districts – if it’s handled correctly.
Wilmington kids being taught the lesson of failure
As I sat down to draw a cartoon about the ongoing feud between Governor Jack Markell and the Christina School District, I realized pretty quickly I had a problem.
DDOE Tells Christina To Close Or Restructure (Charter/Privatize) Its Priority Schools
There are actually three choices on the table: Closure, Charter Conversion/Privatization… and handing all 5 of Christina’s city schools to Red Clay. No matter what, Christina loses these schools.
The Christina school board must choose by Feb. 27 whether to close its three Priority Schools or hand them over to charter schools or other education management organizations, the Department of Education said in a letter to district staff Tuesday.
The letter leaves one possible alternative: If Christina works with the state on the possibility of redistricting schools so that it no longer operates city schools, it could be removed from the Priority Schools saga altogether.
The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) is very good at closing down schools. Go speak with anyone at these six Priority Schools and ask them when DDOE showed up to “help” them. Surely DDOE has been in these schools for years – since these six schools have been struggling for a long, long time? Surely, DDOE can point to all the support they’ve given these schools over the years? I hear that DDOE didn’t step foot in these schools or offer assistance prior to Governor Markell’s Priority School announcement last fall. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe DDOE has been working with the six priority schools for years and drastic action was needed because they exhausted all other options?
Christina Fights Back – Delay Granted, But The End Game Remains The Same
So… last night this happened:
The Christina School Board again delayed a final decision on its three Priority Schools on Tuesday night, saying they wanted to give the school communities time to study a new compromise proposal worked out between district and state officials.
[…]
Originally, the state had said the state and district needed to work out an agreement by last week or Gov. Jack Markell would
shut the schools down orhand them over to charters or other outside operators. Some board members originally believed they had to vote Tuesday night or that takeover would occur.But Sen. Bryan Townsend, whose district includes Christina, said he called Markell’s office during the board meeting and the governor’s staff said they were willing to further extend the deadline.
The strike through words are my doing, and it would be refreshing if someone asked how closing these schools would actually work. Until that question is asked and answered I’ll file “closure” under meaningless threat. Unless someone thinks redrawing attendance zones that bus these children out to suburban schools is actually on the table. No? Well, neither do I.
Wilmington Education Advisory Committee Weighs In On Priority Schools
The letter inside was sent to Governor Markell yesterday. It is asking for the same thing most of us are asking – to slow down the process because more time is needed.
One thing is clear. The more people learn about the Priority Schools Plan the more they ask for more time before implementation.
The time frame is what frustrates so many – it simply cannot be taken seriously. The problems facing these schools are complicated, and ones we’ve ignored for years. Sadly, there is nothing in those MOUs that address, let alone acknowledge, the real issues facing these schools. And longer school days, getting rid of teachers and bringing in new “school leaders” (I hate that phrasing, btw) doesn’t address the very real challenges these children, and the schools serving them, face every day.
I stood on the steps at Warner when the Priority Schools plan was unveiled and, when the announcement was over, I walked away shaking my head. By the time I got home I realized that the main priority of the plan was the consequences of failure; that the only thing carved in stone in the MOU was the loss of our public schools. The time frame all but guaranteed that outcome. Hopefully, this letter will help slow things down.
Christina’s Plan For “Priority Schools” And Last Night’s Meeting
Here’s what happened at last night’s Christina’s School Board meeting:
With two days remaining before a threatened state takeover of its three inner-city schools, the Christina board delayed action on the state’s priority schools plan – but it gave Superintendent Freeman Williams permission to work with education officials on a compromise.
Department spokeswoman Alison May said officials there were willing to extend the deadline for negotiations – at least for the moment. Gov. Jack Markell has said he will close those schools down or hand them over to charters or other outside operators if the district and state can’t agree.
The board’s move comes after the Department of Education rejected draft plans the district had crafted after months of meetings with parents, teachers and others in the schools’ communities.
“At the highest level, the plans propose continuing the work that is already underway at the schools, which we know has not been effective,” May wrote. “The plans propose supplementing the current work in minor ways, which we do not believe will be transformative for students.”
Before continuing, let’s break this down. First, Gov. Markell will not close these schools down, so he should probably drop that bit of nonsense. Charter and privatization have always been the end game for these Priority Schools (It’s actually more than the end game, it’s the entire point of this), so let’s stop pretending that closure is on the table. It isn’t… unless someone wants to tell me where the children attending the closed schools would go? And while the MOU doesn’t have much to say about the children attending these schools, they do, in fact, actually exist.
Please Sign The Petition – Let’s Make Priority Schools A Real PRIORITY
Via Exceptional Delaware:
A group of like-minded individuals who are against the priority schools initiative has created an iPetition to give to Governor Markell, Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Murphy and the Delaware Department of Education. Please take a minute or two during the busy holiday season and make a difference! The timing is crucial on this petition.
If you agree… please sign the petition then help spread the word by sharing the petition with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, email, etc..
I’m counting on my DL community – you guys haven’t let me down before. Let’s knock this out of the park! Come inside for the Petition Link.
Attendance Zone Decision for Cooke Elementary School Results In A Protest
An ipetition landed in my email. Here’s what it says:
Protest of Red Clay School Board’s Attendance Zone Decision for Cooke Elementary School
We demand that the Red Clay Consolidated School District School Board reverse their October 15 decision to deviate from the Attendance Zone feeder pattern that had been presented by the Attendance Zone Committee and accepted by the community. This last-minute decision undermined six months of work by the Attendance Zone Committee and did not give the community an opportunity to voice concerns. The students of Lancaster Court Apartments will not benefit from this decision, and the decision contradicts the Neighborhood Schools Act. The Board’s action was not ethical and the decision is not acceptable.
So… I made some calls to try and figure out what happened. I’m piecing this together from various conversations, so if anyone has additional insight please let me know. Here’s what I heard….
Wilmington City Council’s Meeting On Priority Schools
Last night I attended the City Council Meeting on Priority Schools.
I’ve stared at the above sentence for quite a while, not sure how to proceed. Mainly because I think last night was simply window dressing, a box checked off… the deal is done. These schools, imo, are headed for charter conversion, privatization or closure. The only question is when this will happen. Shortly after the December 31, 2014 Plan deadline? Or after the specified four year, approximately 6 million Plan doesn’t meet the standardized test bar?
Wilmington City Council To Hold Meeting On Priority Schools “Plan”
If you’re free on Thursday, you may want to attend this: WILMINGTON CITY COUNCIL NEWS AND INFORMATION News Release Wednesday, September 24, 2014 Wilmington City Council’s Education, Youth and Families Committee to Focus on the State’s Priority Schools Plan Public is Invited to the Thursday, October 9 at 6 p.m. Meeting Featuring a Priority […]
Red Clay Super’s Message Regarding The Priority Schools’ MOU
“Please be aware that the MOU and the planning process are not the same. The MOU is an agreement to collaborate during the planning process.”
So… is Merv saying that the MOU is simply an invitation to get-together and chat? That nothing in it is binding? It’s just a “Hey, could you RSVP so we can set up a time to come up with a plan that doesn’t exist – just ignore all that talk in the MOU about the school leaders’ salaries and teachers having to reapply for their jobs, etc. because none of that means anything.”
Question… the 9/30 due date is today – there’s a workshop scheduled tonight. Can the board vote at a workshop? If not, what happens if the deadline isn’t met?
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