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Showing posts with label Education Reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education Reform. Show all posts

Dear Delaware, Your Governor is a Bully and Local Control is Dead

My very deeply personal statement to Christina constituents.  This is my opinion and only mine.

Dear Christina,

Tonight, I ceded to the political coercion thrust upon our district through the media manipulation and propaganda campaign purported by the Governor of Delaware and his Department of Education to cripple our board's good faith action to rectify what I truly believe was the poor implementation of the PZ teacher selection process.

I voted with my fellow board mates to rescind the April 19th board action to retain and retrain our teachers at their current campuses.  There has never been a more tortured dilemma before me.  I continue to believe that the Department of Education failed to promote collaboration when they chose to freeze our funding without expressing their concerns directly to the board and giving us the opportunity to re-evaluate and initiate corrective action.

The spirit of collaboration is now dead.  There is no "kinder, gentler DOE," as representatives have so publicly proclaimed.  There is no desire to learn and share best practices.  There is only their way or the highway. Christina, for my naiveté, I am deeply sorry.  I will not rest well tonight.  The weight of this failure weighs much too heavily in my heart. While I am committed to continue the reforms that our community has supported, I will forever know that my vote on April 19th was right, appropriate, fair, and in the best interest of our students. 

The vote I cast tonight, Christina, was for you, to walk the path delineated by the Department of Education, if Christina is ever to reclaim the $11 million stolen from our children.  The future is in their hands.  Apparently, it always has been. 

Jack Markell for President, he'll be right at home in Washington D.C.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

District Consolidation is the word of day!

Before the week is over, Sen. Karen Peterson is expected to present legislation in Dover to consolidate Delaware's 19 School Districts to four:

1) North Wilmington to North of the Canal

2) South of the Canal and Kent County

3) Sussex County

4) One statewide Vocational District

Rumor has it that the bill is only eight lines long, but it opens the door for serious consideration of Delaware's educational system.

There can be no argument: Delaware must do education differently if we are to produce successful, competent young people. Whether you believe education is a community issue, as I do, or think of it only as a parent's responsibility, we need to examine alternatives to the 19 fiefdoms. There are far larger school district in this nation that produce better prepared students.

It is the responsibility of our board members to make brave choices and advocate for their students. Is consolidation the right decision? Will it lower the cost of educating our students? Will local communities retain a voice in their schools? Will it lead to a lighter administration and a more teacher/classroom-centric environment? How will our district leaders enforce administrative accountability? We won't know until someone provides a comprehensive plan for all to study. But, it's time to open our minds and explore our options.

Sec. of Education Dr. Lillian Lowery has presented a plan to consolidate administrative services for public and charter schools into four state centers. It's a start. Such a plan could lead to a Reduction in Administrative Force as we eliminate duplicate effort. How our school districts respond to this first step in eduction reform will set the stage for what is to come.

The show has just begun.

4/21 CSD Board Meeting

When Teacher's Unite:
Last night, Keene Elementary School's Educators showed out in force for their school counselor who learned earlier in the week that she was among CSD personnel to be RIF'd (layed-off by Reduction In Force) come the completion of her contract in June.

For more than an hour they presented statements from parents, students, and school and district staff in support of keeping stand-out employee. They left victorious, managing to defer the vote to next month's Board Meeting. But, this fight is far from over and while the Keene Supporters are trying to keep Dawn Hagan, there are 10 other names (or rather numbers) on the list for terminations.


Where to Start? I have far more questions than answers on this one:

1) When 10% of the school population, 100 students, at Shue-Medill is absent daily, how can we as district justify laying off guidance counselors?

2) When both Shue and Kirk have failed to make Academic Yearly Progress, AYP, and both schools have disproportionately high rates of out-of-school suspensions, how can we even consider RIFing counseling staff?

3) When our guidance staff members play integral roles, serving as their school's steward, in the Response to Intervention Program, RIT, the model currently being utilized by CSD to match student need with resources, how can we even contemplate cutting this staff?

4) With our high school students bring guns to school and our drop-out rate through the roof, how will we even begin to reach these students with limited to no access to mental health professionals.

Our school psychologists cannot be in the schools every hour, nor every day. It is our counselors who are in the battle field, dealing with children of divorce, abuse, neglect, homelessness, children who are bullies and those tormented by them, they reach out during tragedies such as house fires and deaths of family and friends, national moments of sadness such as 9/11 and Columbine. They teach our children the right way to respond to stresses, reaffirm identity and teach self-esteem.

I could go on and on about the value of counselors, but I shouldn't have to.

When a teacher who's never attended one of these meetings and facing an 8-10% pay cut stands before your school board and says both my wife and I educators in the CSD and we will gladly take an additional pay cut to keep this school counselor you have to take notice.

In this day, when we as a business community outsource so many functions, we are all aware that that you can seldom outsource caring with success. When your counselor is employed by your school, your district, they have a vested interest in your community. When they are outside contractors visiting your building for a couple hours a week, you are just one portion of their caseload. Our children are students, not cases. Our counselors are a part of our district family, valued, needed. They are not disposable.

Our educators have my vote! Do they have yours? Take a stand for yoru teacher and let your board members know that it is unacceptable to RIF these important members of our school communities! http://www.christina.k12.de.us/SchoolBoard/Members.htm










Evaluation of HB 119 by Disability Legal Aid in Delaware - What this bill means to all special education students!

MEMORANDUM

To: SCPD, GACEC, & DDC

From: Brian Hartman

Re: Addendum to April 5, 2009 P&L Memo

Date: April 15, 2009

I am providing the following critique of H.B. No. 119 as an addendum to my April 5 P&L memo. Given time constraints, the analysis should be considered preliminary and non-exhaustive.

H.B. No. 119 (Public Education Overhaul)

This bill was introduced on April 8, 2009. As of April 14, it remained in the House Education Committee.

This bill effects wholesale changes to the public educational system. Unfortunately, some provisions would result in the outright repeal of time-honored protections for students with the most severe disabilities. Other provisions would establish a sweeping system of waivers resulting in a hodgepodge of standards and non-aligned curricula. I have the following observations.

First, the Legislature recognized long ago that students with very severe disabilities need consistency in programming to have any hope of meaningful progress. Therefore, students with manifestly severe conditions are currently offered programs on a 12-month schedule not to exceed 217-222 school days. This entitlement extends only to students with severe mental disability (I.Q. 0-35); trainable mental disability (I.Q. 35-50); autism; deaf-blindness; traumatic brain injury; and some orthopedic disabilities attributable to conditions such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, or amputation of limbs. The bill (lines 48-49) deletes these salutary protections altogether. This is highly objectionable and will result in the loss of extended programming for hundreds of students with extreme disability profiles.

Second, any district and any individual school would be authorized to obtain a waiver of any regulation, rule, policy, prescribed course of study, and some statutes (lines 82-85 and 102-103) based on amorphous criteria (lines 86-90 and 108-112). The targeted statutes highlighted for waiver are those requiring health and wellness educational programs; drug and alcohol educational programs; fire safety education; and physical fitness assessments at least once in elementary, middle, and high school (lines 84-85). Given the prevalence of childhood obesity and drug exposure, it is difficult to justify targeting such worthwhile instruction as fodder for waivers. Moreover, authorizing limitless waivers of any regulation, rule, or course of study will predictably result in undermining of State content standards and curricula (14 DE Admin Code 502); minimum graduation standards (14 DE Admin Code 505); DSTP assessments (14 DE Admin Code 100), etc. Everything is waivable! History instructs that waivers often become the norm. For example, a 1-22 teacher/pupil ratio for grades K-3 is established by statute (Title 14 Del.C. §1705A). Rather than meet the standard, the norm is to simply obtain a waiver. The exception becomes the rule and legislative intent is undermined.

Third, the Legislature’s historical approach to waivers is to limit authorization by both discrete context and time and to monitor waiver effects. For example, the authorization for a waiver of the 1-22 teacher/pupil ratio is specific to this context, must be reapproved annually, and is subject to analysis by the Department of Education (Title 14 Del.C. §1705A-1705B). In contrast, H.B. No. 119 has no limits in context or time and contemplates no review. Thus, schools and districts could be given indefinite or permanent waivers of some State laws and all State regulations.

Fourth, lines 52-54 ostensibly authorize districts to cap hours of instruction for individual students with disabilities based on a unilateral administrative decision. Such decisions can only be made by an IEP team with parental involvement, not through a unilateral decision by district administration. See attached Delaware DPI policy letter interpreting former special education regulations [“Changes to the length of the school day (lengthened or shortened) can only be made by the IEP team.”]. Moreover, to avoid illegal discrimination (14 DE Admin Code 225; 34 C.F.R. Part 104), the minimum hours for students with disabilities cannot be less than the minimum hours for students without disabilities. Lines 50-54 would benefit from the following revision:

The Department of Education shall promulgate regulations setting educationally appropriate standards for the presumptive minimum number of hours per week of instructional school time that districts must provide students with disabilities enumerated in this section. In no event shall the number of such hours be less than the minimum hours of instructional school time for students without disabilities. Local districts may vary cumulative hours of services for individual students if they can demonstrate by a preponderance of clinical or scientific evidence that the presumptive hours established by regulation are inappropriate for individual students. only by IEP team decision.

I recommend that the councils strongly oppose this bill with particular emphasis on the evisceration of summer programs for students with extreme disability profiles.

What is HB 119?

145th General AssemblyHouse Bill # 119

Primary Sponsor: Schooley
Additional Sponsor(s): Sen. Sokola

CoSponsors:
Reps. Bennett, Brady, Q. Johnson, Keeley, Longhurst, Manolakos, M. Marshall, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Plant, Scott, Viola, Walls; Sens. Blevins, Bushweller, Cloutier, Hall-Long, Henry, Katz, Peterson, Simpson, Sorenson, Venables

Introduced on : 04/08/2009

Long Title:
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE WITH RESPECT TO PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Synopsis:
This Bill takes several steps targeted at allowing local schools and districts to make better decisions at the local level to educate students. Its provisions include:(a) Permitting local districts substantially more discretion with respect to expenditure of state education funds than they have under existing law. However, the bill also establishes a number of safeguards to ensure that those funds are spent in a responsible manner that enhances student achievement, including state approval of local district budgets, a requirement of full transparency for local district expenditures, and the establishment of citizen financial oversight committees for each district. (b) Creation of a process for local schools and districts to seek relief from rules and procedures that impede their ability to properly educate students.(c) Changing of the “unit count date” to a date much earlier in the year that will allow local districts to make earlier job offers to teachers and help them recruit and retain the best teachers in our region.(d) Eliminating caps on the resources that districts can dedicate to some students with disabilities allowing districts to tailor programs for those students, with appropriate state oversight.

Current Status: House Education Committee On 04/08/09
Fiscal Note: F/N
Full text of Legislation: (in HTML format)
Legis.html

Email this Bill to a friend
Full text of Legislation:(in MS Word format)

Legis.Doc (You need Microsoft Word to see this document.)

Actions History:
Apr 08, 2009 - Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House

The Markell/Denn Plan for Education Reform -- On the right track!

From the State of Delaware Website:

Markell, Denn Unveil Education Reform Legislation

Governor Jack Markell and Lieutenant Governor Matthew Denn joined Senate Education Committee Chair David Sokola and House Education Committee Chair Terry Schooley today to unveil legislation designed to dramatically improve Delaware’s public schools and qualify Delaware for federal dollars that President Obama’s administration will be awarding to states with forward-looking public school systems. The elected officials were joined by Education Secretary Lillian Lowery and leaders of the Delaware Parent Teachers Association and the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, who emphasized the importance of reform to parents and the state’s economy.

The bills, co-sponsored by twenty other Senators and Representatives from both political parties, seek to:

  • Eliminate the Delaware State Testing Program and replace it with a testing program that measures student progress over the course of a school year.
  • Pay the state's highest-performing teachers a comparatively higher salary, and those high-performing teachers in high-risk schools at the state's highest salary level. This portion of the plan would not go into effect until the state's current budget situation improves, and might begin on a pilot basis in individual school districts.
  • Provide local schools and districts with substantially more discretion to make financial and other decisions that make sense for the kids they serve, while simultaneously holding them more accountable for spending their funds responsibly.

Governor Markell said, "This agenda will help deliver the kind of change our system needs to prepare students to become active citizens and succeed in an increasingly competitive economy. The historic challenges facing Delaware demand we do more with the limited resources we have and encourage innovation. The reforms we are proposing will make our education system even stronger."

Lieutenant Governor Denn noted that the bills would be important any year, but were particularly important in light of President Obama's focus on funding school innovation. "These bills should be passed on the merits, because they are good for our schools and good for kids," Denn said. "But now there is an additional reason. President Obama, through the federal stimulus bill, has made billions of dollars available in competitive grants for states that demonstrate that they are pursuing real education reform. The types of things these bills do, especially rewarding high-performing teachers, are things the President is specifically seeking, and will make Delaware far more likely to receive substantial new federal money for education."

President of the State PTA, Bud Mullin, added "Delaware PTA supports these bills, as they align with our support of the goals of Vision 2015, which we voted on at our convention in 2007. These bills start the process toward this vision by targeting the goals of transparency in finances, teacher professionalism, and assessment and accountability. We thank the Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary Lowery and the legislative sponsors and hope to see other bills supporting the vision in the future."

The bills were drafted after Lieutenant Governor Denn and Secretary Lowery hosted a dozen "Back to School" briefings to get public input across the state, and drew hundreds of participants in person and online. The briefings started a statewide dialogue on education reform centered on four main topics:

  • Rewarding teachers who volunteer to serve in at-risk schools
  • Replacing the DSTP with a better system for measuring performance
  • Cutting cumbersome regulations and allowing more decision-making discretion
  • Giving schools more funding discretion, but also holding them accountable

Each of the Back to School briefings are available to listen to by podcast in the Lieutenant Governor's website,

www.ltgov.delaware.gov

Some examples of specific ideas that were spawned by the public and written into the bills are:

  • A requirement that teacher evaluation not be based entirely upon formal assessment
  • A requirement that 10% of funds available for performance pay be awarded to schools that show objective improvement in student performance rather than individual teachers
  • A provision allowing performance pay to be implemented on a pilot basis in individual districts.
  • A requirement of uniformity and transparency in record-keeping and accounting by local school districts.
  • Changing the unit count date from September to April in order to allow districts to compete with other states for new teachers.
  • A requirement of consultation with parents and teachers by local schools or districts before seeking relief from any rule or regulation.

"Delaware has got to do better in education, and these bills are the change we need," added Senator Sokola, Chair of the Senate Education Committee. "We must support our teachers, give kids a chance to succeed, and allow more decision making power at the local level, and these bills do exactly that."