Two Wheels, Same Bike: Conflict of Interest at the Delaware DOE @KilroysDelaware @ed_in_de @Apl_Jax @RCEAPrez @ecpaige @nannyfat @Roof_O @TNJ_malbright @DelawareBats @hanna_hurley #netde #eduDE #edchat #Delaware

Thanks to anonymous for getting this to me!  Our schools and DOE in Delaware have been slowly invaded by pro education reform individuals.  This is all backed by The Rodel Foundation of Delaware and The Vision Network.  Last Spring, the Delaware DOE hired Mrs. Penny Schwinn, a charter school leader from Sacramento, as the Chief Accountability and Performance Officer.  Months later, Mr. Paul Schwinn, her husband, has been hired as the Director of Leadership Development for the Delaware Leadership Project, which is funded by the Delaware DOE, Rodel and Vision.  I know the Delaware DOE wants family involvement, but this is a clear conflict of interest.  The wheels on the Schwinn go round and round…

Paul Schwinn

Paul Schwinn joined the Delaware Leadership Project as the Director of Leadership Development in 2014.   Mr. Schwinn began his teaching career in Baltimore City Public Schools in 2004 as a middle school social studies teacher.  During his tenure, all of his classes made significant gains on standards based assessments in world cultures, reading and math.  Paul also has experience in the charter school sector working with St. HOPE Public Schools in Sacramento, California.  During his tenure with St. HOPE, he served as a Teacher and Advisory Lead at Sacramento Charter High School, as the Founder and Principle of Oak Park Prep middle School, a Title I school that became the highest performing middle school in California whose students were a majority African-American in its first year of operation, and as the Principal of Sacramento Charter High School, also a Title I school.  As a result of his leadership at Sacramento Charter High School, the staff satisfaction rate nearly doubled from the previous year and the school set a record high of 92% of seniors accepted into a four-year university.  In addition to serving as a classroom instructor and school leader, Paul has served as a Professional Learning Community Facilitator with Teach for America in Los Angeles, and as a Graduate Student Instructor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Penny Schwinn

Penny Schwinn is the Chief Accountability and Performance Officer. She is responsible for the Assessment, Accountability, Turnaround, Performance Management, Data, and Research and Evaluation offices within the Department. Penny leads this work with the core belief that transparently measuring school progress using comprehensive performance metrics is critical to driving student achievement.

Prior to her role in Delaware, Penny served as the Assistant Superintendent of Performance Management for Sacramento City Unified School District and the Founder of Capitol Collegiate Academy. As assistant superintendent in Sacramento, Penny developed the region’s first multiple-measure accountability framework through an extensive community planning process in partnership with the Office of Family and Community Engagement. This belief in performance management and the need to communicate openly with families grew from her experiences as founder of Capitol Collegiate, which achieved 98% proficiency within three years, as well as her early experiences working in schools in Sacramento, Oakland, and Richmond. She began her career in education as a high school teacher in Baltimore City and has also worked to build operational systems in the private sector.