The Echo

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I had soaring hopes for Sec. Murphy.  Grounded.

Okay, so I get that DOE is having capacity issues - as in a flock of underlings have flown the coop since the Jack hatched Murph.  It happens - moulting.  What clucks, though, is what the cockerel does with the clipped wings still in the hen house.

Looking solely at Delaware's exceptional children - students who require special education - it would be negligent to ignore the fact Murph is about dilute critical mass by asking the State Board of Education to appoint Mary Ann Mieczkowski to be the Acting Associate Secretary of the Teaching and Learning branch.  Mitch is officially the Sec. for the Exceptional Children and Early Learning branch. Good move for Mitch, bad for kids.  Special education cells are among Delaware's lowest scoring DCAS testing cell. Whole schools fail to make AYP due to the state's failure to compel achievement from these students.  For the first time in memory, the Delaware Autism Program failed to make AYP in 2011-12.  When the state's pre-eminent special education AYP-maker fails to hit basic minimal achievement markers, you can bet it's something to crow about.  Over-extending the leader of the department that addresses Exceptional Children is just bad practice. Yep, bad for kids.

Now, factor in Baby Race to the Top, Delaware's second RTTT victory.  We've secured funding to develop more comprehensive intervention for Delaware's youngest learners - the Early Childhood segment.  So, what's Murph do?  He assigns even more duties and responsibilities to a critical secretary.  There's a term for this in the poultry industry - Forced Moulting - and it's not pretty.

Just what did Jack hatch? besides of crock of edushit? A cockatrice who lacks any appreciation for exceptional children? or a chicken running around with his head cut off? 

Murph gets an F in exceptional children.  But, then what would you expect from a leader whose about to import an Louisiana D to lead Delaware's Turnaround Unit? (and if you don't what I'm talking about, you better get your Google On!)

Take the crown off, Murph, you're headed for educational caponization. Do I see a chicken saddle in your future? http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/chickens/Chicken-Saddle-Free-shipping-p764.aspx

Forced moulting, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulting
In some countries, flocks of layer hens are force moulted to reinvigorate egg-laying. This usually involves complete withdrawal of their food (and sometimes water) for 7–14 days or up to 28 days under experimental conditions^[7] which presumably reflect standard farming practice in some countries. This causes a body weight loss of 25 to 35%,^[8] which stimulates the hen to lose her feathers, but also reinvigorates egg-production. Some flocks may be force moulted several times. In 2003, more than 75% of all flocks were moulted in the US.^[9] Other methods of inducing a moult include low-density diets (e.g. grape pomace, cotton seed meal, alfalfa meal)^[10] or dietary manipulation to create an imbalance of a particular nutrient(s). The most important among these include manipulation of minerals including sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), iodine (I) and zinc (Zn), with full or partially reduced dietary intakes.^[11]