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Education and Community News from Home Town Delaware

Early 2013 budget numbers being shared with Educators.


Posted on October 27, 2011 by Wolfe Gary Thanks to Gary for his great post!

By January 2012, the 2013 budgets for Delaware’s schools will begin to take shape, and it has already been rumored that our Leadership in Dover is looking to make even deeper cuts to Education. Already we have one district, Laurel, that is floundering on the edge of not being able to meet its finances after April 2012. Many administrators, school boards, and teachers associations have sat down and looked at where we are today compared to where we were just a few years earlier. Since FY2008, State funding has been completely eliminated for the following programs:

* Reading Resource Teachers $9,431,500

* Math Specialists $3,071,700

* Limited English Proficiency Grant $1,625,000

* Technology Block Grant $1,354,000

* School-Based Discipline Program $8,213,900

* Tax Relief Allocation $17,549,500

* Academic Excellence Allotment $4,595,600

* Extra Time Programs $10,428,000

* Tuition Reimbursement $1,100,000

* Teacher Cadre & Mentoring $1,128,400

TOTAL STATE PROGRAM ELIMINATIONS: $58,497,600

In addition to these program eliminations, many districts have also experienced several reductions in base funding levels:

Division II AOC(funding for classroom, and other day to day supplies)Unit Value $3,274,020 (FY08 $3,279 to FY12 $2,955 at 10,105 Dlv II units)

Division II Energy Unit Value $2,455,515 (FY08 $2,678 to FY 12 $2,435 at 10,105 Div II units)

Professional Development Funding $1,300,000 (FY08 $2,866,500 to FY 12 $1,566,500)

Beyond these program eliminations and base funding reductions, increasing demands are being placed on

local funds (Shift of 10% Transportation Costs $7,133,800) at a time when local assessed values are essentially flat, and other local revenues such as interest, indirect cost and cost recovery collections are in decline. For those wondering what losses looked like around the state:

FY 2012 Loss Based On 2008 Amount Per Unit

Appoquinimink ($3,216,675)

Brandywine ($6,967,025)

Christina ($10,594,538)

Colonial ($4,208,339)

NCCVT ($3,839,781 )

Red Clay ($9,297,025)

Caesar Rodney ($2,374,300)

Capital ($3,244,120)

Lake Forest ($1,591,437)

Milford ($2,757,148)

Poly tech ($554,096)

Smyrna ($2,906,050)

Cape Henlopen ($2,506,117)

Delmar ($814,812)

Indian River ($2,334,774)

Laurel ($1,803,148)

Seaford ($1,787,634)

SVT ($862,796)

Woodbridge ($1,357,726)

Total all Districts: ($63,017,540)



So bottom line is that the cost of educating the next generation is going up in a time when every taxpayer is doing more with less, and raising local taxes is not an option for schools. So what can all those who have a stake in Education do to prevent our students from being cheated out of an education? Here are a few ideas we are discussing in Milford on November 8th with the community at a district wide meeting at the Milford High School Auditorium:



~ Begin lobbying efforts now, prior to the Governor’s Recommended Budget

~ Focus attention on the cumulative state funding reductions that have occurred since FY2008.

~ E.mphasize that federal stimulus funding (State Fiscal Stabilization Funds and EdJobs Funding) were intended to ‘stabilize’ state and local agencies that were experiencing revenue reductions. As revenues increase, these funds should therefore be utilized to restore previous funding reductions.

~ Target restoration funding as follows: 1) restoration of EdJobs funding; 2) restoration of State Fiscal Stabilization funding.

~ Recognize the need for efficiencies and budget reductions, but public education has been disproportionally impacted in recent years.

~ Restoring the public education budget back to its FY2010 percentage of the total budget (33.33%) would add $59,650,400 to the public education budget.

~ Collaborate with DSEA to lobby for funding restoration.

~ Establish consistent individual district meetings with local legislators.

~ Provide legislators with specific legislation to support.

~ Provide flexibility to districts in severe fiscal hardship by allowing districts to ‘cash in’ as many units as necessary to maintain solvency, and to not forfeit Division IIIunit funding for cashed in units.

~ Target the message that the “Foundation is Crumbling”. While we have the benefit of many short-term funding initiatives (i.e. Race to the Top) the core K-12 public education finance structure is not sufficient to maintain current service and performance levels.

From the News Journal:  HERE   Delaware's Charter Schools have a right to funding equity
By: Gregory Meece, director of the Newark Charter School and president of the Delaware Charter Schools Network, and a member of The News Journal's Community View Board.

In 1995, before the ink was dry on the governor's signature on the charter schools law, I signed on to help create Delaware's first charter school. At that time, we didn't expect charter schools to be "the answer" to all of our challenges in public education, but we did see the promise of charter schools as one of the best opportunities to make a dramatic improvement in Delaware's public education landscape.

The results of the charter school movement in Delaware are significant. Charters rank at the top academically at all grade levels. They have been the first to tackle new frontiers in curriculum, teacher incentive pay, site-based management, extended school years, facilities construction, financial autonomy, parent engagement, student uniforms and much more.

There are thousands of students on charter school waiting lists. Almost 80 percent of Delawareans favor charter schools (according to a University of Delaware poll) even though only 9 percent of the student population attends them. Yet progress hasn't been easy, due to an uneven playing field when it comes to the way public charter schools are funded.

The Delaware Charter School Network stands for excellence. But there are times when meeting the high standards we've set for ourselves can be difficult, due to the financial challenges that charters face compared to our district counterparts.

A recent News Journal article rightly highlighted the financial pressures constricting Delaware school districts in the wake of multimillion-dollar state cuts for education. Absent, however, was any mention of the even more acute financial woes of Delaware's 22 public charter schools. We support our public school districts and believe funding adequacy is an issue that must be addressed for all of our schools. But we are one system of public schools, not two. For charter schools, the issue of funding equity is just as important.

In the 2009 report, A New Model Law for Supporting the Growth of High-Quality Public Charter Schools, equitable operational funding and access to capital funding are cited as two "Essential Components of a Strong Public Charter School Law."

And according to Delaware Department of Education data, public charter schools receive nearly 23 percent less per student than traditional district schools, even after excluding the 10 district-operated schools throughout the state that primarily serve resource-intensive, high-needs students.

Several factors can explain this disparity, but the result of this gap is an unfair penalty on charter school students and educators. For example, while Stubbs Elementary, in the Christina School District, might receive $11,437 for Lisa, Prestige Academy -- a mere 10 blocks away -- receives $9,331 for her brother. That translates to less funding available for teacher salaries and much-needed instructional resources.

One of the main reasons for this gap is that charters have neither the ability to raise revenue through referendums nor state funding for major capital costs, such as building upgrades. Public charter schools are forced to pay from 7 to 20 percent of their operating budgets for facilities. Imagine the compounded impact recent state budget cuts have on schools with fewer available dollars to begin with.

Another concern is the formula that districts use to transfer local property tax revenue to charter schools. The guiding principle is "the money follows the child." But districts are permitted to exclude certain categories of local funds before the transfers are made. These deductions are not transparent and often fluctuate dramatically, thereby complicating charter schools budget planning. For example, my charter school budgeted an increase in local funds because our largest feeder district passed a multimillion-dollar operating referendum the previous year. We were shocked to learn that our share of that district's local funds actually decreased substantially.

Further complicating the matter is that the formula for transferring these funds is based not on actual revenues but on district expenditures from the previous year. There is no way for charter schools to "catch up."

Last spring, passage of House Bill 205 represented an important first step toward growing and sustaining high-quality charter schools in the state. We also have resources to draw from to make even more progress. For example, The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has a menu of best practices for supporting public charter schools' facility needs.

It is my hope that Delaware's General Assembly takes the next big steps in charter legislation: changing policy conditions to give all public school students an equal chance at success regardless of where they go to school. Such policies will encourage high-performing charters to expand, and they will encourage great charters to come into the state.

Sixteen years ago, policy decisions were made as safeguards in the event that charters didn't pan out. Well, we did pan out. Charter schools are here to stay.

Thank you for sharing:

Esther said...


My friends who work at Red Lion tell me that the reports of their financial problems are greatly exaggerated, and they do not anticipate having to close or to be sold.

October 23, 2011 9:35 PM

Will the state fund those students elsewhere?

Moyer-  If the state or K12 shutter the school this school year - After the critical Sept. 30 count - will the funding follow the students to their new school, assuming the families choose either charter or district options in lieu of private school?  Update:  DOE Representative says that there will be no funding this year for a private school student entering the public school system post Sept. 30.  That's not entirely surprising - Delaware lives and dies by the Sept. 30 count.  But, it does raise an ethics question - if a private school fails mid-year, is there an obligation to fund the public education of their students?  Most presume that if a private school fails, those parents have the personal resources to send their child to another private school.  However, private schools have many children on financial needs scholarships, full or partial.  So, if a private school fails, is there a moral obligation to fund the public education of those students who are needs-based scholarships?  And if the answer is "yes" then does that same obligation extend to all students? And that's our walk through morals and ethics of education funding for the evening...


Red Lion - If the private christian school with more than 700 students closes due to financial hardship, a closing that seems almost probably, and parents opt for public options - again either district or charter - will the state infuse receiving schools with funding?  This one's a bit trickier to predict as Red Lion students don't generate state funding b/c of their private school status. 

Breaking News:  The NJ toots their own horn!

Low enrollment, a new computer-based school model and low test scores are concerns for Wilmington City Councilman Mike Brown, who said Gov. Jack Markell's administration made a mistake when it picked K12 Inc., a Virginia-based for-profit education company, to run the school after the state Board of Education voted to revoke a local group's control.



"That's the one the governor swore to God he was going to change things around," Brown said. "That's the one where they rode in there on their white horse and said everything was going to be all right -- we got it under control, we got handpicked people, we got people who are HQT, highly qualified teachers. We got this, we got that, we got a whole lot. So, I'm still waiting on it."

That's City Councilman Mike Brown on K12's failure to attract enough students to meet the enrollment target at Moyer.  Gov. Markell and DOE brought in K12 to manage the school in 2010.  It was rated commendable at the time.  K12 has also failed to post the mandated financials on the school website despite two state laws that demand such transparency.

Delaware's on the on-ramp to providing a world class education, a state that's going to produce some of the best students in the world.

Unless, of course, you are on Route 7 approaching I-95 North.  That ramp's closed...

From today's News Journal, a story about the ACLU, free speech, internet usage, and school districts:

In a letter sent to the district last week, Delaware ACLU legal director Richard Morse said the district's (Capital) student social media policy, still in draft form, and a separate employee policy, adopted in August, are both clear violations of First Amendment rights...

The student policy, drafted in August and listed on the Capital board's agenda for Wednesday night, contains a "Prohibited Activities" list that bars students from posting negative comments about individuals or groups based on legally protected characteristics such as race or religion...

Capital's policy governing the online conduct of staff contains the same prohibitions as the student policy, and also bars employees from posting disparaging comments about co-workers, bosses or the public, even while off the clock...

I'm going to risk being the lone wolf... I was taught that the first amendment rights are guaranteed rights in so long as they are not used to compromise or infringe upon the rights of others.


Free speech or freedom of expression is the right to speak freely without censorship. However, in practice, this right is not absolute, it's commonly subject to limitations such as libel, slander, obscenity and incitement to commit a crime. 


In the context of our global community, there's another document that defines human rights - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The Universal Declarion is recognized in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and as such the freedom of expression is recognized as Internation Law - one ratified by the United States. 


However, Article 19 of the ICCPR stipulates that the exercise of these rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and may "therefore be subject to certain restrictions" when necessary "[f]or respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "[f]or the protection of national security or of public order (order public), or of public health or morals".[1][2] Various subsequent governing documents indicate that "limitations to freedom of speech may occur through legal sanction or social disapprobation, or both."


Which brings us back to the ACLU and the Capital School District's policies - It's one thing for a citizen to take to the internet to criticize a public figure - an elected official or a department of government.  Laws governing slander and libel protect the individual but do not shelter the public persona - the actions of a public person or agency.  But, that same right of criticism is NOT afforded to the PRIVATE individual - a student or co-worker - or the PRIVATE life of a public figure. 


Unless the NJ left out some brazen language in their story, Captial's policies do not seem to violate the right to freedom of expression in any form.  The policies themselves are social disapprobation - an expression of strong disapproval and a pronouncement of what is ethically culpable and that falls right in line with the international interpretation of this human right. 


Furthermore, Capital's policies are aligned to legally protected characteristics - race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, etc.  When a person, citing free speech, attacks these characteristics they are essential committing a hate crime.  And such behavior from a student would most certainly fall within the social definition of bullying, if not the legal definition.  And when these violations occur they erode the fundamental human right to safety.


The question posed to you today:  Should the freedom of expression be absolute? even if that means violating the rights of others to safety and/or protection?  Should the law protect the reputation of a private individual?  Does International law trump National law? And should we be permitted to say what we will even if that means hurting innocent children? Or is the ACLU over-reacting? 

Check out this Job Posted on TopSchoolJobs.org: Job currently posted on TopSchoolJobs.org

Deputy Director, Recruitment and Selection – The Broad Superintendents Academy

The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems
Los Angeles CA 90024 USA
Full Time - 12 Month

I lost a student a couple years ago. The reality of it touched me more deeply than any other loss I've ever felt.  "Fireflies" was one of his favorite songs.  As death comes to us when least we expect it, as friends, acquaintances, and family have greeted death and left indelible touches upon our hearts , this is the song I remember, this is the song I think of in those time, for comfort. Thank you to my student for the impression he left upon my life. 

This week a long ago friend lost her husband. This song is for her now, too.

It's official according to Politics K-12 at Edweekcom: 


http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2011/10/yesterday_was_the_deadline_for.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1


Delaware has filed a Notice of Intent that signifies the state's desire to apply for the NCLB waiver.  Yesterday was the deadline for applicants to file a courtesy notification with US DOE.


Delaware joins 38 other applicants in providing notification.  Of note - our state indicates that it intends to file for the waiver in mid-February.  It should be noted that a state can change it's mind and decide not to apply for the waiver. It should also be noted that Delaware could have opted to apply for the Waiver this coming November, but for whatever reason, opted to wait until February 2012.


However, this is the burning question - If the time is now, if the time was yesterday, if we are Racing to the Top, and seeking Innovation that must be immediate - if our PZ schools have only TWO YEARS to turnaround their achievement and find proficiency - WHY IN A MILLION YEARS WOULD DEDOE APPLY FOR THIS WAIVER? 

Last night, late in the evening, at our regularly scheduled board meeting, the Christina Board of Education voted 7-0 to establish Delaware's FIRST Public-Montessori program!  Chrsitina now heads into a year of planning and preparation that culminate with Montessori classrooms in both the urban portion of our district and the suburban. 

The Montessori model comes with substantial historical data validating it's methodologies which include smaller class sizes.  For those in Christina who have lobbied for true education reform that directly affects the classroom, we will now embark on a three year pilot during which time we can collect and validate our own Christina-generated data! 

Our Montessori model will bring new choice options to Christina students while positioning the district to offer even greater diversification in learning environments.  This partnership is a win for Christina's children! I couldn't be prouder than I am today that our Board has taken the steps to invest in proven best-practices in a reknowned model. 



 Maria Montessori

(1870-1952), Italian educator and doctor, born in Chiaravalle, and educated at the University of Rome. She is best known for the Montessori method of teaching young children, introduced to Rome in 1907. Her method, which has since spread throughout the world, stresses the development of initiative and self-reliance by permitting children to do by themselves the things that interest them, but within strictly disciplined limits. A wide variety of special equipment of increasing complexity is used to help direct the interests of the child and hasten development.
 When a child is ready to learn new and more difficult tasks, the teacher guides the child's first endeavours in order to avoid wasted effort and the learning of wrong habits; otherwise the child learns alone. It has been reported that the Montessori method has enabled children to learn to read and write much more quickly and with greater facility than has otherwise been possible. Her writings include The Montessori Method (1912) and Advanced Montessori Method (1917).There is no better investment in education than investing in our classrooms and our students.  Warm Gratitidue is due to the Elementary Workshop in Wilmington for engaging Christina in several months of collaboration.  Today, it's Children First!

No bones about it - last spring when Mayor Baker called the CSD board a bunch of criminals (for doing due diligence nonetheless and ensuring process was followed with fidelity - it was later learned that process need only be followed with "substantial performance/compliance") for the Gov's misinformed decision to withdraw RTTT funding and PZ funding from the district, it upset me greatly.

So, Mayor Baker, today the Gov. pulled the PZ funding from Bayard Middle School, skipped over Warner and Brandywine - the next recipients on the list of under-performers and both of which serve the children of your constituents - and sent the funds to Laurel. 

When are you going to call the Gov. out for stealing from your students?  At what point does the Gov become the Criminal?  I'll be the first to tell you - you got it wrong on the first go round.  This is your one chance to correct your error.  Demand accountability NOW! Demand that DOE fund PZ for Warner or Brandywine!

Breaking News - Rick Jensen show on PZ bumble$uck!  http://www.wdel.com/

DOE pulls PZ funding from Bayard Middle School and sends it to Laurel.

Well, that's a fine howdoyado!

If you didn't read the Gov's byline in Sunday's News Journal, you may want to check it out ... maybe. Depends how much propaganda you can stomach. 

I know a couple other Delaware bloggers have already run with it - Kilroy, Transparent Christina.  Even with their great evaluations, I have one bone to pick about the piece. Here goes:

The Gov writes:

Together, we are raising expectations around what it means to be proficient in core subjects like reading and math; measuring students against their own progress instead of against a snapshot of the class that came before them; and helping lead the nation in the adoption of Common Core Standards so a Delaware diploma can be recognized in any state as a symbol of achievement.

If we inflict the truth on this statement, it would read like this:

Together, I, Gov. Markell, and the Delaware Department of ,who bow to my every whim and whimper, have decreased academic expectations.  With the new DCAS, individual students must perform better because the test is harder in order to achieve their same scores as under the old DSTP.   However, together, we duped my appointed State Board of Education in agreeing to allow the DOE to drop the proficiency rate - so culmulatively-speaking fewer actual students had score at the assigned profiency rate in order for a school to be ranked Superior or Commendable. With these changes, I have rendered the Delaware Diploma system useless. 
While the DOE embarks on the implementation of common core standards, which admittedly are an over-stretch of federal intrustion (and have been interpretted by many to be flat out illegal), it's important to note that potential employers of this generation will have wade through data, coached and manipulated, to find real value in the diploma itself.  If a school's reputation is known to be Superior and a student comes to an employer bearing a diploma from a reputable school, one might assume that the student actually mastered the common core standards and therefore would be a logical and attractive employee.  But, if that same school achieved the Superior or Commendable rating based squarely on "growth" that diploma may simply be useless as it is not a marker of profiency, but an indicator of growth. 

All the font in red - That's my critical evaluation of the Gov's latest kool-aide. 

This one goes out to Jack:

Thought Partner

The role of a Thought Partner is to think with the client in a way that makes the process of thinking explicit and allows the client to see the implications of the thinking process on his or her goals, actions and conditions for performance. It is not the role of the Thought Partner to be more informed, more correct, more logical or more incisive than the client. It is the role of the Thought Partner to attend to the conditions of the dialogue in a way that enables the client to think more clearly and effectively toward his or her goals.

The critical faculties for being a great Thought Partner are listening without criticism, reflecting a client's thinking back to him accurately and without judgment and sharing insights emerging from the dialogue with no emotional attachment to being viewed as right or brilliant or any other favorable or unfavorable assessment. The Thought Partner is more than a parrot, in that he or she must think the thoughts of the client and then reflect them back, not merely repeat the words. Neither is the Thought Partner merely a foil for the client's thinking.  http://www.thoughtpartner.net/index.php?/archives/3-What-is-a-Thought-Partner.html

For a much better Translation of "Thought Partner," go HERE.

substantial performance (compliance) legal definition

noun

A doctrine in equity that if a good faith attempt was made to perform the requirements of a contract, but failed to exactly meet the specifics, and if the essential aim of the contract has been met, the agreement will still be considered as having been completed. Minimal damages for the impreciseness may be permitted by the court. See also performance.

Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. http://law.yourdictionary.com/substantial-performance-compliance

Middletown High locked down after girl found with three knives.

And to think, our Governor wanted to replace our SROs with rookie cops.  Thank goodness that never happened!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/398531/september-29-2011/colbert-super-pac---trevor-potter---stephen-s-shell-corporation?xrs=share_copy

Police Charge Teacher, Three Students

I get a myriad of email through my inbox.  To date, I have more than 1400.  Every once in a while, one sparks my interest.  This particular one may even spark the interest of Paul Herdman and Rodel's Vision Network.

This came through earlier this week:

A Delaware Charter School has raised an issue of Charter Law - specifically violations of Title 14, Chapter 5, 506 (c.3).  This clause states that families enrolling their student in a charter school for the first time must sign a one-time one year contract committing them to keep their child at said charter school for the full year.  The request to DOE was about enforcement capabilities as some parents and students signed the contract and then withdrew their students and enrolled them in the traditional public schools. The traditional public schools appear complacent to violate the law as they did not stop the enrollment from occurring.

While I have to admit that I don't quite get the law itself, I wasn't around when it was written.  My guess is that it was to stem students from committing to several schools and then waiting for the last minute to decide which school to go to - which makes it difficult for schools/districts to hire teaching staff and purchase materials within budget.

Here's the response to the query:

From: Cruce Daniel

To: XXXX
Cc: XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX,
Sent: Wed, Sep 28, 2011
Subject: RE: Charter student contracts

Thank you for raising your concerns regarding this issue After reviewing the issue with our internal team, it has been determined that students not in attendance at your school during the last 10 days of September do not qualify for inclusion in the September 30th unit count.

I would like to illuminate several points below germane to this issue:

The first year agreement letter, signed by parents per 14 Del.C. §506 (c) (3), is a written confirmation between the charter school and the parent. This written confirmation, or violation of this written confirmation, is exclusively between the charter school and the parent.
State funding is based on where a student is enrolled and attending during the last 10 days of school in September.

Students not in attendance during the last 10 days of school in September cannot be included in a district or charter school unit count as outlined in 14 DE Admin.Code 701 Unit Count 2.1.

DDOE addresses all regulations and requirements for the inclusion and exclusion of students in the September 30th unit count in our Unit Count training sessions.

o These training sessions require representation from all districts and charter schools.

The summary document and multiple other related resources are available in the Unit Count PLUS program under Help & Documentation.

We understand the concerns this issue raises at your school and appreciate the opportunity to reiterate the above clarifications. As stated previously, we want to ensure the success of all schools while also ensuring that unit count regulations are specifically followed. Inherent in this effort is the intent that parents have the information they need to make informed decisions about their child's education.
Respectfully-

Dan

------------------------------------

Here's my admittedly under-educated take:

1) Directing the conversation to the Sept. 30th unit count is a diversion tactic.  Deflect from the real issue.

2) The Real Issue:  DOE chooses which laws to enforce.  DOE via RTTT claims to be pro-charter.  However, DOE, and vicariously, the Governor are not willing to enforce Charter law and regulation.  What DOE says and what DOE does are two very different things.  And this is just another indication that DOE is NOT pro-charter, despite 'sclaims otherwise.  DOE is pro-business.  My predication is that the movement of charters in Delaware will go down like this : instead of home grown localized charters, outside Charter Management Organizations are poised to enter the Delaware market, either through take over as seen at Moyer or via Innovative Schools which seems to have a monopoly on the Charter School economy in Delaware. You name the service you need, Innovative has it.  One-stop-shopping.  Wonder how many sole-source contracts Innovative has gotten over the last two-three years?

Yeah, so I'm a conspiracy theorist.  At the end of the day, the law's the LAW.  DOE should enforce it and that enforcement capability occurs on the receiving end - those districts that take kids despite signed contracts when good cause does not exist.  Why should the Charter school be punished for plannnig according to committments via loss of funds on Sept. 30th and why should a district benefit from the violation of state law?   Maybe DOE needs to look at withholding funding for any student in violation of the 1 year contract provision.  Districts must adhere to the law.  Despite the lure of funding, they need to set the example for parents who are trying to game the system.  They need to work in partnership with Charters to ensure choice is not corrupted. 

If districts don't set a good example for students when parents are playing the system, who will?

Maybe Paul Herdmann and Vision will step up to the plate and actually advocate for the charters they claim to support.  DOE has no mind to listen to me.  But, they might be compelled to enforce the law if the power-brokers at Vision are up in arms.