The Echo

Scary stuff, folks...

Anonymous is in BLACK and I respond in PURPLE.

Elizabeth, your blog only preaches to the converted, and I hope you helped your little virtual support group cope with the fact that your monopoly on political power will soon end. The News Journal did not note Mr. Palidori’s role as the National Education Association’s “campaigns and elections specialist.”

Anonymous, my "little virtual support group" thanks you for validating our concerns. I do find it ironic that you credit concerned Delawareans who blog independent of each other and whose views been exiled by many mainstream media outlets as having a "monopoly on political power."

I laughed out loud when reading your statement "And the disastrous and horrific media campaign perpetrated by your action fund shows that Voices endorses dirty politics." Actually, the mail pieces weren't "dirty," & cited FACTUAL stats about a "disastrous" school district.

Sure the stats might be accurate.  Our secondary schools are of deep concern for me.  But, the stats ignore the educators who are working hard in Christina to address them nor do the stats tell you anything about the great things that happen in CSD.  Off the cuff - there's our nationally recognized drop-our prevention program,  our model early childhood center,  Delaware's first PUBLIC Montessori program opening in CSD this fall, our BOARD'S commitment to the Eastside Community which will result in the expansion of the Henrietta Johnson Medical Center into District Office Space at a subsidized cost to their organization...

I loved every one I received, and voted in a SB election for the first time in my life.

FANTASTIC!

What's "horrific" is YOUR performance.

We are all entitled to opinions and I encourage you to exercise your right to vote again next year.

Also, why do bloggers keep calling Harris' op-ed an "apology"? 

I can't speak for other bloggers, so you may want to pose this question to them.  My statement was that "IF" it was an apology, it sucked. 

I don't think it's an apology in any way, shape of form. I think its a middle finger.

It may very well have been.  I've spoken with Mr. Harris and even invited him to comment here on C&E1st.  Greg, please feel free to chime it - was your column meant to be interpreted as "a middle finger?"

As to "monopoly," Harris is clearly talking about political campaigns, and calling out Jack P for not stating his role in said campaigns. Harris states his role. 

Go back and read it again.  Perhaps the Journal edited it, but this is what was printed, "The News Journal did not note Mr. Palidori’s role as the National Education Association’s “campaigns and elections specialist.”

I can see why you bloggers are going ape shit.

I wouldn't classify my response as "ape shit." I do enjoy delving into words and exploring what words say about people.  It's a strategy I employ here every now and again.

Harris is telling you his org is here to stay, and with time, will build a movement that has the audacity to demand you do better by Delaware's kids. 

He's welcome to stay.  Although, I suspect that when the trough runs dry, many of our transplants will move onto the next big thing.  As far as demand that I "do better by Delaware's kids," I'm proud that I advocate best practices and not "the next new thing." I believe in stability, in educators, in classrooms, in meaningful professional development, and if you think you can do better, please move into my nominating district and put your children in my schools and then run for my seat.

Only an inbreeder would knock someone for moving to DE from a different state!

Actually, I was knocking his election record, not his relocation.  Stay Classy, Cincinnati!

May 26, 2012 9:26 AM

Sadly, I found that I was wrote this reponse that it took a bit of snarky turn. I apologize for that.   It's just difficult to take a newly-christened organization seriously when it's first big endeavour was politicize school board elections in Delaware! I know that times are changing and change is coming and you either need to get off the track or jump on the train... but I just can't do either.  I believe that school board elections are sacred.  And if I end up as flast as a pancake, sobeit.  The BLUE below - those are my comments.

On May 16, The News Journal published a letter by Jack Palidori making several allegations against the organization I direct, Voices 4 Delaware Education. The News Journal did not note Mr. Palidori’s role as the National Education Association’s “campaigns and elections specialist.”

Greg, I don't think it was the News Journal's responsibility to "out" Jack Polidori - and that's Polidori with an "o" - as an elections specialist.  In fact, the same could be said for you - a former Cincinnati, Ohio politician with his own Wikipedia page.

The NEA, through its state affiliate, the Delaware State Education Association and related PACs, is likely the biggest contributor to political campaigns in the state. We respect their right to share their voice, but frankly in education policy for many years, it’s been the only one.

No, dear.  NEA is not the only voice in education policy.  There's DPTA, DSPAC, DSBA, PIC, DOE, Charter Network, Chamber of Commerce, Rodel, Vision Network,  Ed Voters of DE (oh, right, your organization ate theirs); you get the idea.  In fact, rather than add a voice to the educational landscape - one could presume that you snuffed one out...

So, we hope they respect our right to speak up on behalf of other citizens, including students, parents and community and business leaders.

Really?  Again?  PTA, DSPAC, DSBA, PIC, DOE, Charter, Chamber, Rodel, Vision, Rotary, the Gov. Council for Exceptional Persons... 

Being a new entrant into a political environment dominated by one voice, Voices anticipated that the natural reaction of the current monopoly would be to attempt to discredit and marginalize us, including questioning our legal standing.

Of course you expected it - you sent hate mail to voters - to education voters - voters who take the time to learn about their candidates and make a concentrated effort to hit the polls in school board elections. In DELAWARE, geographically not the smallest state, but in degrees of separation, we're almost as inbred as Cecil County, Maryland! 

We hope the affirmative response by the Delaware Elections Committee and Attorney General’s Office addressed those concerns. 

It may be legal, but it's not ethical.  I think one of the biggest differences between your organization and all the others that have a voice in education policy in Delaware is that we can see who is supporting those organizations, who is on their boards. THEY OPERATE IN SUNLIGHT! Your backers hide in the dark.  And that's just SHADY.

But this is not about “us versus them.” There will be times we agree and times we won’t.

Did you know that both Voices's backers and the "union" all signed onto the RTTT MOU? (Me? Still Proud of that Big, Fat, NO!)

Voices believes Delaware can be a national leader on education, but we also believe that to get there, change is going to be incredibly hard and it will require outstanding leadership at all levels.

And the disastrous and horrific media campaign perpetrated by your action fund shows that Voices endorses dirty politics in order to silence anyone who might disagree - including a freakin' stay-at-home mom (like me.)

As a state, Delaware has a great plan and the leadership and resources to implement it. Its strategies have been validated at the highest levels.

No, no, no. Great Plan?  I never thought that, hence my big, fat, no vote to the RTTT MOU!  Resources?  Try a temporary four-year grant with a three-year spend down of federal resources and then a pass off onto cash-strapped locals... No.  And those strategies have not passed the litmus test as far as peer-reviewed research and efficacy.  In fact, longitudinal data on the "models" show only pockets of success - NOT overwhelming or even middle-whelming success.  Pockets, baby, don't hold many children!  And I need to educate all of mine, not just the ones that fit in your pocket or the deep pockets of your slimy backers.

The Obama administration, for example, rated Delaware’s education plan No. 1 in the nation, while awarding the state $119 million for its implementation.

Delaware and Tennessee share that honor.  And everyone knows that Delaware got the Biden bump.  The plan, itself, was nothing more than a re-spew of Ren10 and Chicago's turnabout disaster... And we all know that that is where Arne Duncan crawled out of the woodwork...

The state’s education plan raises academic standards so that our kids can compete with the best in the world. It seeds or builds upon innovative strategies to ensure students reach these standards. A major component of the reform work is to improve teacher effectiveness. This includes rewarding the state’s most capable teachers, and developing professional learning communities within which teachers learn from the successes of their peers.

For this one, I will defer to DSEA and CEA.  Only my teachers in the classrooms can tell me if these programs will work.  Do they believe that financial rewards will make them better teachers?  Do they feel that PLC are benefiting children in the classrooms?  Do they have better suggestions that we've simply never listened to?  Teachers - feel free to chime in!

The plan also includes strategies to turn around the state’s lowest-performing schools via Partnership Zones, which are spurring innovation. Some of the PZ schools, for example, have redesigned their curriculums to allow for deeper, project based learning. Parents who are frustrated by standardized tests and teachers who don’t enjoy teaching to the test are now welcoming changes that allow students to develop deep content knowledge. Students enjoy engaging in projects rather than sitting passively behind desks.

PBL - that's debatable, without the intense multi-year training required, PBL is a failure for both teachers and students.   PBL takes much more than an PD session or two and it's so early in implementation in PZ schools that it's much too soon to determine its effectiveness.  Add to that, I sat in on a meeting in January when DOE as much as admitted they were take-it-or-leave-it-folks when it came to PBL.  Heck, they offered to let CSD take it out of the Glasgow plan.   


As far as those who are frustrated by standardized tests - show me where Delaware laws and/or regulations allow a parent to opt their child out of DCAS.  SHOW ME! Mike Stetter in DOE is on record stating that the only exemption is a medical exemption.  Families can't opt out of the test if their child is frustrated nor can they simply opt into methods that "allow students to develop deep content knowledge." A totally uninformed statement by you, Mr. Harris.


You may be right about students enjoying engagement rather than passive sitting - I call that lecture-based curriculum delivery - which is the norm in comprehensive schools.  But, I challenge you to research other models of delivery such as the one employed by the Lab School of Washington D.C. that has educators teaching children each concept through at least three senses in an arts-based program.  While the D.C. school is geared to students with ADD/HD, it's local charter start-up is showing that the model applies to all students not just those with IEPs and 504s. And while no intervention is one-size-fits-all, systematically deploying methods like PBL across domains and locations only squeezes out time and room for other delivery models.  

Parents, Do you want your child to attend a PBL-school?  Would you prefer to send them to the PBL magnet school that has fully developed its teachers and is producing results?  Or do you seek to see all of your schools adopt PBL half-heartedly?   

Another focus is to build a top-notch early childhood development system. Brain development research shows that early learning, from birth to age 5, is the most important phase of a child’s development.

You are so funny, Greg! For decades, early educators and researchers have been telling us about brain plasticity and child development, begging for funding to for educational systems that tap into this rich opportunity to educate our youngest ones.  While RTTT has created an arm to address this well-known fact, investing in early childhood development was not a brainstorm moment.  And it's actually pretty shameful that it took until 2010-12 for the state and federal government to actually recognize the importance of the young mind.

The education arm is designed to increase public engagement in education, including voter turnout in school board elections. Earlier this month, less than 1 percent of eligible voters participated in school board elections that determine who manages hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. We need to change that.

Actually, Greg, I appreciate this.  You Super PAC's hate mail campaign did one important thing for local elections - it spurred Delawareans to hit the polls if for no other reason than to say no to decrepit campaign tactics.  Voters who normally would have ignored school board elections felt compelled to fight back and send a resounding message - and did they ever with an 0-3 for your c4.

Through Voices’ advocacy arm, we will support progressive educational legislation, as well as do what we can to recruit and support well-qualified citizens to run for school boards and the Statehouse.

"Recruit and support well-qualified citizens to run for school boards" because we can all see that Voices and its secret backers don't believe that the run-of-the-mill-parent is well-qualified.

Voices is a young organization, and rather abruptly inserted ourselves into Delaware’s political arena. We will only get better at what we do and develop our capacity to support change agents who are willing to run for political office. As long as education rates are lagging in the state, Voices will help elect advocates who have the best interests of our schoolchildren at heart.

You really believe the manure that the Delaware business community and your $$$ backers are feeding you, don't you?  So, tell me: what would happen if, along the way to educational policy domination, you determined that one of your elected advocates had parted opinions with your founders on just how to address the best interests of our schoolchildren? Would you toss that advocate under the bus to appease the money men or would you step up and support your advocate?

The May 8 school board elections are now behind us, and we congratulate the winners. What’s important now is that we forge ahead on our shared goal to ensure that all Delaware students, from pre-school to college, are given a world-class education.

If this was an apology, it sucked.  And it's pretty hard to forge ahead hand-in-hand with Voices when you know that just around the corner is another election for school board - mine.  And while I still have a yearning to return to full-time motherhood while my children are young enough to appreciate it, your c4 has certainly inspired me to want to run again!  Thank You for that, I'll be giving it careful consideration over the next eight or so months.  It could be an amazing race - given that I have spent three years publicly sharing my thoughts and views on this blog.  What a treasure trove for your super PAC.  They wouldn't even need to take my comments out of context!

'Til we meet again... Hoping things are grand in Cincinnati!

WTF! More BS education jobs for taxpayers to fund

And be sure to read Steve Newton's comment in response to the post...

As my students would twitter:  SMH...

Shout out to Christina's PIO for representing our district today at the Darius Weems event at the Delaware School for Deaf, a statewide program hosted by CSD!

Darius is a 20-something diagnosed with DMD, a genetic disease that is both debilitating and terminal. Darius lost his older brother to DMD. Today is the first time that Darius is visiting a school for the deaf. But, his story speaks to all people with disabilities. While he's never met JZ or had a video on MTV, he' working to raise money for research into DMD. He's the subject of the movie, Darius Goes West. In addition to spreading awareness of duchenne muscular dystrophy, Darius is an accomplished rap artist! And he's an awesome musician!

Special Accolades go to the Senior Class at DSD for donating all the funds they raised for their senior class trip to Darius's organization:

The Movie Accompanied by eleven best friends, Darius Weems, a fifteen-year-old living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), leaves home for the first time in his life. The rowdy crew sets a course for California where they hope to convince MTV to customize Darius's wheelchair on the hit show, Pimp My Ride. Darius Goes West has been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people of all ages all around the world.
The Movement
Darius Goes West is more than a film. The continuing story of Darius, his crew, and the tens of thousands of supporters they have met in their travels can be experienced on this website. This site is continually updated with short videos, blog posts, and innovative initiatives that aim to affect a cure for DMD.

DGW is a registered 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization. All proceeds benefit Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research.

Last week, the NJ published this story:  http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120510/NEWS/120510035/Teacher-arrested-plucking-student-?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome&nclick_check=1

Below is a sampling of the comments that the story received:

• Last year that was my little cousin teacher
• THIS IS MY SONS TEACHER, I SWEAR TO GOD....
• I wonder how many other children he succeeded in abusing.

This post hits a milestone at Children & Educators 1st, the 1000th written, 851st actually posted.

Disclaimer -

1) The following statements are NOT directed to any of the amazing and dedicated educators in our state who work for our children every day, who suffer the abuse that some students direct towards them, and who never raise a hand, a finger, a paddle to, or utter an obscenity in the presence of or directly at these children.


2) This message is directed to those who believe that children should be disciplined at school in manners consistent with corporal punishment and verbal abuse. This is for those who CROSS THE LINE and then try to defend their behavior.


3) These are my beliefs and mine alone and I do not speak for the CSD board. These words do not address any one incident, but the many that have occurred here and elsewhere over the last several years that have trickled up and into the news.

You cannot touch children.  You cannot hit children with your hand, with a book, or with a paddle.  You cannot put the "cone of shame" around their heads even if you believe they are disruptive. You cannot call them names, you cannot bully them, harass them, target them, or "creep" on them. You cannot not "sext" them or have other inappropriate relationships with them. You can not roll them in mats and sit on them.  You can not lock them in the bathroom.


They are not yours, even when those adults who contributed DNA to their existence fail to step-up and parent.  THEY ARE NOT YOURS. YOU CANNOT ABUSE THEM.


Children who act out and are disrespectful behave this way because these have been the examples set for them.  They learn this behavior from the adults in their lives.  Their parents and guardians are often either unskilled or don't care.  Sometimes, they have wonderful parents, who care deeply, and still their children make incredibly poor decisions. And sometimes, it's the environment in which a child is raised that has the biggest impact on their lives.  Regardless, bad decisions are just that.  While children are students, it is our job, 8 hours/day, to try to teach them how to make good decisions.  No matter how fantastic a teacher you may be, I know that it is far from likely that you can undo in 8 hours the damage inflicted on some children in the other 16 hours of the day. But, you came to this profession because you believe you can make a difference and far more of you than not will come to work everyday and take the abuse that is directed your way - knowing that you didn't cause it, but understanding that you are sometimes the only hope these children have. For you, I am deeply, deeply grateful.


When these children come into your school, carrying untold emotional baggage, you must welcome them and that baggage.  If you can't, you don't belong around children.  School is their sanctuary.  Those who hurt the deepest will try to control our schools.  They are desperate to control something, anything, in their lives.  They will attempt to disrupt your class.  Their words will be cruel and thoughtless.  They will lash out at you.  They are asking you set limits, to teach them how deal with their emotions.  They are not asking you to hit them or hit on them.


They are not yours, you cannot lay hands on them or demean them with words.


There are many people today who remember being paddled and who believe that teachers are well within their rights to hit, strike, push, and bully kids.  These people are not bound by the same ethics as educators.  What they do in their home is their business as long as their behavior is not abusive.


When I was in my twenties and the mother of my first newborn, I opened my home to two teenagers who needed an escape from their abusive parents.  There were times I wanted to smack those children upside the head, their decision making skills were so poor - but I didn't.  They made the choices they made b/c the adults in their lives could not make good decisions, either. I recognized that that my teens were deeply damaged and inflicting the same physical abuse their parents would never help them heal.  They lived with us on and off for two and half years and then left us.  I can only hope that we made a positive impact. 


My parents were spankers.  My father could smack your bum so hard that you couldn't sit down for a week.  They were repeating the discipline their own parents had used with them.  But, my parents, no matter what, would never have laid a hand on a child that was not their own.   From my childhood to this of my own children, what is considered acceptable discipline has changed greatly.  We do not paddle children in school anymore.  We do not touch them.  We do not hit them.  We do not cuss at them.  We do not intimidate them.  We do not bully them.   Much of what we do not do is dictated to us by law.  It's pretty sad that we need laws to tell us how to not treat children, but we clearly need them nonetheless. Our children, all of them, do not belong to you or me.  They belong to something much greater - our community.  Our children are our assets but not our property, even those who are broken, hurting, hateful and disruptive.  Even toxic assets have value.  Look at what is becoming of Newark's Chrysler plant...


And if you have been given the gift of touching the lives of our community's children, then I expect you to follow the law and where the law does not exist, I expect you behave in accordance with the ethics of your profession.  When that child pushes you to the point of breaking, teach them the greatest lesson you can - WALK AWAY and seek the guidance and assistance of another adult.


You don't have to like all the children in your lives, or me, or my opinion, but you cannot hit these children, strike them, touch them, abuse them in any manner, ever.  And if you do, and you call it discipline, then you are just a wretched sick thing... And you do not belong in any school, near any child, especially mine.


It is Mother's Day and I am a mother.  And I will concede that there are at least three situations in which you may need to touch a child:

• The child is in the position to cause physically injury to self or others and physical restraint is the only means of intervention available during the crisis. 
• Physical comfort or nurturing is an identified reinforcer of positive behavior and has been approved by the child's parent/guardian.  As a young child challenged by autism, my daughter detested sugary reinforcers, much preferring hugs and pressure.  The nurturing teachers of her early years seized upon these preferences to help her develop into a beautiful young lady.  
• Hand-over-hand instructions or similar instruction when requires such during OT or PT.

I am sure that you, the reader, can think of other times when contact is okay, the congratulatory hug and whatnot, and that's fine.  But, the message here is clear - if your intention is to achieve negative impact - YOU CANNOT TOUCH CHILDREN!  WALK AWAY!

"The $8.2 million, three-year program is meant to help reward and attract teachers to challenged schools in Delaware. Thirty schools were named by the state as eligible for the program, which will award a $10,000 bonus to certain teachers in these schools who meet yet-to-be-defined student test score goals set by the state." http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120512/NEWS03/205120315/Thirty-high-need-schools-eligible-teacher-bonuses?nclick_check=1

This program is part of the State's Race to the Top Application.  Districts and charters long ago signed MOU's affirming their support of the plan.  I have no idea if Boards will be asked to vote on whether or not their named schools participate in this program. But, my question to you is -Do Christina's parents and teachers want to participate? Before you answer, I want to share a few off the cuff thoughts: 

• The state must be notified of participation by May 25th.
• The metrics or minimum score requirement for reward are yet to be determined.
• The details of the program are to be shared with schools/districts in the coming weeks. Is that after schools have opted in or out? (I have a memo.)
• The rules may change from year to year.
• From the NJ story "For the first year of the program, the only school employees eligible will be reading and math teachers who have students in grades 3-10 who take the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System."
• The DOE memo I have actually states that select principals and assistant principals are eligible for the incentive/reward,too.
• Does this type of program improve school and/or district morale among employees?
• Do you believe that teachers of children in higher performing schools work any less hard that the teachers of children in persistently failing schools? Especially when the demographics of the schools are similar?

"The one thing that I really think about ... is how important educator retention is in the highest need schools," said Christopher Ruszkowski, chief officer, teacher and leader effectiveness unit in the state Department of Education.

Chris R. - do you think that you are the only one concerned with educator retention in those schools with the greatest need?  If that's really your concern - do you think that an incentive pay program that polarizes school employees, all of whom, have a role in school climate and culture, is going to provide the stabilizing force needed in those schools?  

The Eligible Schools

Brandywine School District's Harlan Elementary
» Christina School District's Bancroft, Elbert-Palmer, Oberle, Pulaski and Stubbs elementary schools; Bayard Middle; and Glasgow High
» Capital School District's Dover High
» Indian River School District's John Clayton Elementary
» Red Clay Consolidated School District's Highlands, Lewis Dual Language, Marbrook, Mote, Shortlidge and Warner elementary schools; and Stanton and A.I. du Pont middle schools
» New Castle County Vo-Tech School District's Howard High School of Technology
» Laurel School District's Laurel Middle
» Seaford School District's West Seaford Elementary
» Charter schools: Academy of Dover, Delaware College Prepatory, EastSide, Edison, Family Foundations, Kuumba, Moyer, Positive Outcomes and Prestige Academy
SOURCE: the state Department of Education

1. Feds and state know that unit count funding is not enough funding to implement IEPs. Fortunately there are other funding sources available to help implement... 2. How do I know what was funded with that money? Verification report DOE will show what units were "purchased.". But not by name if student. 3. Can a district post a job before Sept 30? A district can post anytime, especially their predictable units. But, the 9/30 unit count is what counts 4. Don,t ask for the copy of presentaton or handout, it was copied by from the law and specifically not made to be a handout. Bummer, no cheat sheet for parents. 5. What can you do if don't agree with IEP? You can go to admin, administrative complaint or seek due process. 6. Don't leave after your IEP unless you have received assurances that the funds are in place to implement the IEP. Team rep from school should share the funding category that the iep falls into to. This new piece of the audit file is still trickling down and into practice. Is there a form? Not yet. Should be part of future training to districts once doe's new policy/procedure manual is approved. 7. Unit count funding cannot go to out of district/residential placement. That comes from ICT funding. 8. It is a mortal sin for admin to tell a parent that they do not have the funds to implement an IEP. 9. When doe looks at compliance, they are not looking at minutes, just what is written into IEP. Prior written notice has more legal weight thn minutes. 10. PIC has copy of law to share with those who want it that way. 11. When will manual be available? It still needs to be legally vetted and will eventually be on website. 12. What defines substantial portion of day? Half a day, maybe. Not the child that is in a small class setting for just reading. The legal definition does not always apply to children. 13. What was the hesitation to move to needs based? Let's not rehash that one. Summary, certain groups under the old law guaranteed certain ratios. Categorically based before. Parents were trying to keep the rations in Delaware law. That was the hesitation. And of course the system shift was supposed to be funding neutral - it was not supposed the break the education budget. Many people in the room agree that needs based is better. That's a wrap for the Q&A of Needs-based funding! No quotes, presentation not available to take it with us.

From the Institute for a Competitive Workforce:
http://icw.uschamber.com/event/2012-school-board-case-studies-release

Yeah, okay, I was endorsed by the DSEA and the CEA. Let's just get that out of the way. I have a BA in English/Journalism, a couple of kids, a penchant for opening my mouth and inserting my foot, and a real desire to help kids - not adults - succeed. For some reason, the union and their PAC, then the only game in town, felt I was what they were looking for in a candidate. I took their $600 and put it to use - however I did it, or they did it, or whoever did it - I won the election based on my values and ideas. In July 2009, while my children wreaked havoc, I was sworn in and put to work. Of course, that was 2009. That was before...

Race to the Trough...a Biden Bump into 1st round winnership...a dream deal for the green Gov with a blue print for education based upon a businessman's union-busting vision quest...


If you can remember way back to Ruth Ann Minner, before we knew about the private jets and the secret land deals, there was that story in the News Journal about some boat guy's disappointment (no, not capano, totally wrong boat guy) b/c his foundation didn't get enough money from the state budget. Oh yeah, Vision 2012-15-Foundation. They asked Ruth Ann to fund it and she didn't fully ante-up and they weren't so happy. So Ruth Ann's term comes to an end, and state treasurer Jack Markell sails past the shoe-in Lt. Gov. in an upset to take the helm.


The Jack. He's here and he's got friends that have a score to settle. Recession hits and the first thing to go are the Minner Units - reading specialists? Taste that revenge. Kids don't need to read. They need to be obedient workers. Balancing the state budget will be done on the backs of our school children as education funding is raided again and again to keep the general fund stocked. And all of this is neither here nor there until a handful of local school board members, independent of each other, vote against signing an MOU with the state that would require districts to spin gold from hay or give up the first born of every tax payer. Ouch!

Now, those board members, they never had a chance. They knew they would lose the vote. (I knew I couldn't stop the freight train from coming, but I refused to vote to de-stabilize my schools with reforms that lacked longitudinal data supporting their success - damn! When did the stay-at-home momma get her smart on? Even DSEA Signed off on the MOU!) But, they certainly couldn't have realized that they were charting a course to become public enemy Number One!


So the Trough really does two things - it promotes these turnaround models that don't have longitudinal data behind them and it gives birth to a new industry, the eduformers, your basic deal of the day consultant run amok. You know the kind - they used to sell cars, then cell phones, then mortgages. Now they know how to fix your persistantly low-achieving school. They've never done it before? But, they've studied how it was done it in Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Chicago and for a gross sum of your Trough money, they can apply those models to your schools and 1..2..3... Magic... So the carpetbaggers descend on Delaware, promised room at the inn by the well-connected and well-to-do.


Just one problem - Race to the Top, PZ, Vision (which finally found it's home in the Gov's mansion) can't silence those dissenting board members. I suppose when you don't get paid for your voluntary civil service, there's really no reason to go along to get along. And two years into the fray, those board members are starting to bring others into the light. All that Trough money hasn't funnelled into the classroom and it was never supposed to. That funding was to pay the consultants and the data coaches, the experts on school reform. The Trough Team sold this plan to US DOE with great assurances that the state had 100 % buy-in. Only that was a lie. And now the public is actually starting to listen and ask questions.


SO, IF YOU'RE A VISION-ARY SKIPPER IN DELAWARE AND OWNING THE GOVERNORSHIP AND THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATIONSHIP IS NOT ENOUGH "SHIP" FOR YOU - YOU BUY SCHOOLBOARDSMANSHIP. AND HOW DO YOU DO THAT? YOU HIRE THE SAME FIRM THAT HELPED SPRINT OBAMA INTO THE WHITE HOUSE - WWW.NEWPARTNERS.COM - TO RUN YOUR SUPER PAC. FOR THOSE WHO ARE WONDERFING HOW I KNOW THIS? I ASKED GREG HARRIS, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF VOICES 4 DELAWARE EDUCATION AND VOICES 4 DELAWARE EDUCATION ACTION FUND LAST WEEK. THANKS GREG, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU TOOK THE TIME TO TALK WITH ME. I WON'T HOLD IT AGAINST YOU THAT YOU WORK FOR BUNCH OF SELFISH, MISGUIDED, GRUDGE-HOLDING BLOWHARDS WHO COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT PARENTS WANT AND MORE ABOUT WHAT BETTER SUPPPORTS THEIR BOTTOM LINE.


Stunning isn't it? Do you think the people that branded Obama come cheap? Not. This is Delaware. These are school board members. Are the businessmen, round tables, foundations, and chambers that afraid of a stay-at-home mom and a couple of other independent thinkers that they need to bring in the Obama guns? What's wrong with this picture?


I hate to tell you Skip, but I think your ship is taking on water...

development & finance

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Dear Skipper,


Your yacht hit an iceberg - 961 voters thick (yes, likely less than 2 % of all the eligible voters in CSD, but enough to put a hole in the hull.) While I suppose your New Partners team with all their decades of experience at the "epicenter of the environmental shift in how we organize, communicate, and advocate" worked for Obama; they seriously failed to navigate their way through the choppy waters of Delaware school board elections.  Their GPS must have been whacked when they left port.  CSD hate mail?  Dirty campaign glossies? That was their strategy? the time-tested, accountable practices...the latest in the communications and technology they brag about on their website? For what you spent, they should have at least bought you a blogger or two... I know, there's always next year's regatta. 

Since your c4 just about sank your never-really-launched c3, you may want to think about renaming the ship. Can't imagine what it's going to cost to rebrand this baby?

Just one, small suggestion - Go with someone homegrown... You may want to consider a local political machine (one that doesn't keep striking out in DE) - keep the money in-house as they say...  Help build the economy, give Jack something to brag about:  selling out children to corporatists while creating minimum wage jobs with crap benefits...in Delaware. Yeah, that'll look real nice on a glossy...

Unofficial Results

and mine richly reminded me last night that the US is a great country... it has the best politicians money can buy...


Thanks, Dad. 


You really know how to put it in perspective!

Dear Christina,

You already know that I am a strong proponent of local control governing education - that the voices of parents, teachers, and students should resonate loudest and longest when it comes to decision-making.  You also know that I consider business interest in education an affront to Delaware's educational system.  When I look around at the politics in play today and think back to my own election to the Christina School Board, there is one thing I am quite certain of - if I had been running against a Super PAC, I think I would have lost. 

I could tell you how school board elections are supposed to be sacred, free of political persuasion, based upon issues and platforms and not political affiliation.  (But, at least one among you will call me a communist, another a republican, and a third will point out that I am a registered democrat.)

I could say that I believe that those who seek to corrupt school board elections and protect corporate interest should be castigated, tarred, and feathered.  (But, someone might actually wonder how a stay-at-home mom who has never attended Skip-sponsored indoctrination session could possibly have known what tarring and feathering is.)

I might even tell you about the good things that your elected school board has been doing for you...but all of those good things don't in sum equal out to the one pressing concern every parent has for their child - Will my child receive the best education possible? (Your also likely to hand me a giant postcard that asserts your school board is failing you.)

Tomorrow, Christina, you (and I) will have a choice to make.  Will it be Steve Lee, Val Harris, or Shirley Saffer?  To this I say:

It took years, but you balanced our board.  A balanced board isn't always pretty.  A balanced board asks uncomfortable questions and frequently disagrees.  But, it is reflective of a diverse school district led by passionate educators and parents representing stakeholders from all walks of life.

Now, an outside agency funded by big business to protect their Race to the Top interest is courting our vote by funneling thousands of dollars into a dirty campaign.  They are afraid that the parents we have elected will put their pay day at risk. 

Tomorrow, when I go to the polls, I know I will say "no" to corporate greed.  Will you join me in telling the business community that they do not supercede parents and teachers?  They do not possess skill-sets that make them any wiser, smarter, or brighter than a loving mother, father, grandparent or guardian regardless of the degrees they hang on their walls and the credentials they have attained.   

Christina, the balance is in your hands...

because my hit meter is up and through the roof today...

Let's be real - we can't ignore failure.

Christina joined the Vision Network back in the mid-2000s, prior to my election to the board.  At the height of our investment (Vision is not free, we pay them) CSD had seven schools in the network - all of our secondary school (middle and high schools for those less familiar with edu-jargon.) Each school entered the Vision Network with a failing status. 

Developed in 2006 by a coalition of education, government, business and civic leaders throughout Delaware, it also laid the foundation for Delaware’s first-place selection in the federal Race to the Top competition.

So, here we are in 2012.  Let's talk about ROI, Return on Investment:

• Despite years of tax-payer funded Vision-intervention, two CSD Vision schools were named to PZ.  In all fairness to Vision, DOE delineately one erroneously and withdrew its PZ status.  However, DOE did have a message for CSD - this school will likely be named to PZ next year and the funding will be considerably less than if it had been named this year.
• For the 2011/12 school year, the leader of the other CSD PZ school has opted her school out of the Vision Network. My guess, ROI?
• One CSD Vision School made AYP with safe harbor in 2010-11.  The school was able to achieve this status in part b/c the DOE changed the way they calculate AYP by factoring in student growth.  The students do not have to actually achieve proficiency for a school to rank commendable or superior - they just have show growth.  And don't forget, those commendable and superior titles will be changing soon to further confuse the masses.
• What happened to CSD's other four Vision school?  Oh, they are still failing. ROI? Haven't seen it.

So, is Vision producing a return on the tax payers investment?  Probably not.  Can Vision be blamed for persistant failure? Not really.  They partnered with these schools knowing that they were already in trouble.  Vision just hasn't produced results in the majority of these schools.

Which brings me to one last point that I would like to make -

Last week my daughter, despite being challenged by autism, picked up a Voices 4 Delaware Education Action Fund postcard and spontaneously said "Mommy, you got a report card?  And you failed."  God that knife cut deeply.  But, then I got to thinking - Shirley Saffer, John Kowalko, Elise Diller, Red Clay School Board Members - all those folks have denounced V4DEAF for their campaign tactics. 

So why hasn't the Vision Network?  Those mailers are as much an indictment of the work of the Vision Network as they are of the Christina board members who have spoken out in opposition of RTTT. 

If CSD's board is failing our children, so is the Vision Network.  Just look at the ROI!

Yeah, okay, I was endorsed by the DSEA and the CEA.  Let's just get that out of the way.  I have a BA in English/Journalism, a couple of kids, a penchant for opening my mouth and inserting my foot, and a real desire to help kids - not adults - succeed.  For some reason, the union and their PAC, then the only game in town, felt I was what they were looking for in a candidate.  I took their $600 and put it to use - however I did it, or they did it, or whoever did it - I won the election based on my values and ideas.  In July 2009, while my children wreaked havoc, I was sworn in and put to work.  Of course, that was 2009. That was before... 

Race to the Trough...a Biden Bump into 1st round winnership...a dream deal for the green Gov with a blue print for education based upon a businessman's union-busting vision quest...


If you can remember way back to Ruth Ann Minner, before we knew about the private jets and the secret land deals, there was that story in the News Journal about some boat guy's disappointment (no, not capano, totally wrong boat guy) b/c his foundation didn't get enough money from the state budget.  Oh yeah, Vision 2012-15-Foundation.  They asked Ruth Ann to fund it and she didn't fully ante-up and they weren't so happy.  So Ruth Ann's term comes to an end, and state treasurer Jack Markell sails past the shoe-in Lt. Gov. in an upset to take the helm.


The Jack.  He's here and he's got friends that have a score to settle.  Recession hits and the first thing to go are the Minner Units - reading specialists? Taste that revenge.  Kids don't need to read.  They need to be obedient workers.  Balancing the state budget will be done on the backs of our school children as education funding is raided again and again to keep the general fund stocked.  And all of this is neither here nor there until a handful of local school board members, independent of each other, vote against signing an MOU with the state that would require districts to spin gold from hay or give up the first born of every tax payer. Ouch! 

Now, those board members, they never had a chance.  They knew they would lose the vote. (I knew I couldn't stop the freight train from coming, but I refused to vote to de-stabilize my schools with reforms that lacked longitudinal data supporting their success - damn! When did the stay-at-home momma get her smart on? Even DSEA Signed off on the MOU!) But, they certainly couldn't have realized that they were charting a course to become public enemy Number One!


So the Trough really does two things - it promotes these turnaround models that don't have longitudinal data behind them and it gives birth to a new industry, the eduformers, your basic deal of the day consultant run amok.  You know the kind - they used to sell cars, then cell phones, then mortgages.  Now they know how to fix your persistantly low-achieving school.  They've never done it before?  But, they've studied how it was done it in Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Chicago and for a gross sum of your Trough money, they can apply those models to your schools and 1..2..3... Magic... So the carpetbaggers descend on Delaware, promised room at the inn by the well-connected and well-to-do.


Just one problem - Race to the Top, PZ, Vision (which finally found it's home in the Gov's mansion) can't silence those dissenting board members.  I suppose when you don't get paid for your voluntary civil service, there's really no reason to go along to get along.  And two years into the fray, those board members are starting to bring others into the light. All that Trough money hasn't funnelled into the classroom and it was never supposed to. That funding was to pay the consultants and the data coaches, the experts on school reform.  The Trough Team sold this plan to US DOE with great assurances that the state had 100 % buy-in.  Only that was a lie. And now the public is actually starting to listen and ask questions.


SO, IF YOU'RE A VISION-ARY SKIPPER IN DELAWARE AND OWNING THE GOVERNORSHIP AND THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATIONSHIP IS NOT ENOUGH "SHIP" FOR YOU - YOU BUY SCHOOLBOARDSMANSHIP.  AND HOW DO YOU DO THAT?  YOU HIRE THE SAME FIRM THAT HELPED SPRINT OBAMA INTO THE WHITE HOUSE - WWW.NEWPARTNERS.COM - TO RUN YOUR SUPER PAC.  FOR THOSE WHO ARE WONDERFING HOW I KNOW THIS?  I ASKED GREG HARRIS, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF VOICES 4 DELAWARE EDUCATION AND VOICES 4 DELAWARE EDUCATION ACTION FUND LAST WEEK. THANKS GREG, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU TOOK THE TIME TO TALK WITH ME.  I WON'T HOLD IT AGAINST YOU THAT YOU WORK FOR BUNCH OF SELFISH, MISGUIDED, GRUDGE-HOLDING BLOWHARDS WHO COULD CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT PARENTS WANT AND MORE ABOUT WHAT BETTER SUPPPORTS THEIR BOTTOM LINE.


Stunning isn't it?  Do you think the people that branded Obama come cheap?  Not.  This is Delaware.  These are school board members.  Are the businessmen, round tables, foundations, and chambers that afraid of a stay-at-home mom and a couple of other independent thinkers that they need to bring in the Obama guns?  What's wrong with this picture? 


I hate to tell you Skip, but I think your ship is taking on water... 

development & finance

In recent years, the influence of money - and how it is raised - has changed how campaigns are waged and organizations are funded. Our team has been at the forefront of some of the most effective development campaigns and initiatives during those years, and our approach has evolved along with the shifting paradigm. We believe the most successful development requires organizing - building relationships with supporters at every level. Supporters are investors. Investors feel a heightened stake in the outcome and assume a sense of ownership in an organization or campaign. We guide our investors every step of the way. Whether it’s through grassroots online fundraising, direct marketing appeals, branding initiatives, traditional fundraising events or just getting in front of the right people at the right time, the right development plan is unique to each client.  http://www.newpartners.com/development-and-finance.php