*I got schooled by a commenter named “Dee”, so I am taking her advice. Please read her comment to know what the real story is. I welcome discussion and comments on this. Thanks!
The State Board of Education in Delaware will discuss regulation surrounding the advanced teacher program teacher stuff at their meeting on Thursday, December 18th. Based on the new teacher compensation guidelines, what I am hearing, teachers in Delaware will not be paid more if they have an advanced degree. But teachers coming out of the Teach For America or Relay Graduate School of Education get a fast track to certification in Delaware based on bad legislation in the Alternative Routes To Teacher Licensure and Certification Program.
This has been the intent all along. And it is a union-busting move. Why have great teachers, when you can have okay teachers with less money and less rights? Because when the DOE makes school districts a “priority” and they turn those schools into charters, who is going to fill the slots? They will say those teachers are bad, those filthy nasty union teachers. Here’s how it stands: the key to ending all of this is for parents to opt out now. If the DOE doesn’t have the data, they can’t use the scores to make all the bad judgments. See for yourself how special interest lobbying groups have rewritten education in our state!
The Season Of Myths 
I believe you have some misinformation from somewhere with regard to this regulation as well as with regard to any connection or change to teacher compensation.
1) this regulation is in the five year cycle of review and it was discussed when published for comment that this regulation was brought forward by the PSB with no changes to the existing regulation and after the alternate route to teacher certification report was issued by DOE in 2015, the PSB and SBE would consider the information in that report to determine if any changes needed to be proposed for this or other regulations.
This is an existing regulation, not a new regulation.
2) you mentioned new teacher compensation guidelines and not having differentiated pay structures for advanced degrees: A) you must be referring to work by the SB254 task force which has not yet made any recommendations and there have been no changes to compensation systems for educators and B) the reference to a lack of differentiated pay structures is based upon draft proposals from October, not reflective of the current work of said committee.
This regulation is not related to teacher compensation, not related to school accountability, is not a new regulation it has been in existence in this same state since 2009 and language regarding in Delaware Code regarding Alternative Routes to Certification has been in effect since 1996. Also note this regulation was on the SBE agenda in November and has been on the agenda of the Professional Standards Board where is will also be acted upon in January.
Also please note there will not be a discussion of an “advanced teacher program” as you stated at the SBE meeting on Thursday. There is not a topic related to such a topic on the agenda.
I hope this helps clarify any misunderstandings that may have been communicated by others with regard to this regulation.
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Well, you certainly told me! 🙂 I should have had you write the article.
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Thank you for the correction. There will be no comment on any item up for action however, but thank you for the invitation to respond, none the less.
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Sorry for any confusion, I am replying from a different computer network today perhaps that is why it went into moderation.
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Yeah, WordPress is weird like that. Hey, you might know this. I read an article on Diane Ravitch today that stated TFA enrollment is down 25% in NY. Are you finding that to be the case in DE?
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Kevin, be VERY wary of “Dee” The implication is that because it is an existing regulation it is harmless. That is bullshit.
Also, the existing regulation was brought forward by a PSB that got gutted by the Legislature in 2014. NO comparison.
TFA was set to have its sunset and reporting eliminated in 2011.
Dee is a reform water carrier, straight up. She believes in TFA and TNTP, supports all edreform and generally comes on here to deflect and attempt to make the routine nefarious palatable.
Be VERY wary of her agenda.
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Everyone has there voice here John. You are all part of my family, and I am the….wait a minute, I’m not Kilroy! But seriously, I hate the existing regulation. Anything that waters down the system to give people jobs with 5 weeks of training after graduating as compared to teachers who earned the right to have a more powerful voice is jacked up in my opinion.
I read a post today where TFA enrollment was down 25% in NY. Maybe that trend will continue. I reached out to Dee to see if she knew what those percentages were in the 1st state.
I sincerely wish our DOE and State Board of Ed would stop praising the core and anything associated with this disastrous ed reform. It has done far more harm than good. Folks at the US DOE are starting to wake up, and want to disassociate themselves with Duncan. When I think of all that money wasted, and what do we have to show for it? Priority schools that were never given the proper resources to begin with, a test coming out that I have already opted my son out of, charters that run their bank accounts like it’s a night at the casino, and a DOE and State Board of Ed that seems afraid to have the courage to stand up to all of this and say NO. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when that opinion greatly affects thousands of teachers and insulting them with legislation that gives them an unfair advantage, I take issue with that. I take issue with forced testing that citizens did not have a right to vote for, that does not judge accurately the true capabilities of a child. And that capability and light is fading fast due to “rigor” and prepping for a test daily that is still 5 months away.
When I was a kid, I took the bubble tests, but they didn’t mean anything. I got judged by what I did every day, in the classroom, my homework, grades, etc. Now everything comes down to one test? One score? Which will be judged by human scorers to test human students so the DOE can play games with human capital? No thanks. I won’t let my son be a part of that experiment. No parent should. I abhor the collection of data on this as well. Should high school students have a general idea of what they want to do when they graduate, sure. But a 10 year old boy who fights his disability every single day of his life being told he needs to be “college ready” when he doesn’t know how to stop that duck noise in class that he can’t help? But the teachers are forced to teach to a test they don’t believe in? And they are afraid for their jobs every single day? And when they could be using their time to do more they are forced to sit through humiliating professional development every week and be counseled by people who don’t have the first clue how to deal with a classroom every day? No thanks. I want more for my child’s education.
If the DOE thinks charters are the answer, then why would they not hold them accountable? Why does five years go by at FFA with NO Citizens Budget Oversight Committee with no DOE representative aware of this until this year? Dee, can you answer how in the world that happens? Can you answer why the DOE won’t keep track of IEP denials?
I understand the state board is separate from the DOE, but everything the DOE does has a direct correlation based on what passes from the board. Cause if you want to understand me and my world Dee, you need to know that IEP denials is my big thing. There is no oversight whatsoever on it. Aside from a parent doing one of the following: 1) Filing a complaint, 2) Going to mediation, or 3) going to due process. Well guess what, parents who first request an IEP are barely aware of the process, do not know their rights, and can easily be swayed by a school. By the time they find out, hey, my kid should have gotten an IEP, they are beyond furious and tend to lawyer up before trusting a DOE that never monitors these kinds of things in the first place. I begged the DOE to do something when I had an issue with my son’s charter. My only way to go forward: file a complaint. Really, is that the best they can do? They can’t just say, how about we call a meeting with all parties and hash it out, or let me call the school and try to fix this for you. No, it has to be a long, arduous process that has ALREADY BEEN a long and arduous process for the parents and the student. Or be faced with answering questions like “Did you talk to the administrator” or “Did you go to the board?” It’s insulting. Most parents wouldn’t even think to go to the DOE unless there was already a communication breakdown with the school. That’s the charter school office at the DOE. The very same office that operates as if their paycheck were signed by Rodel and the DE Charter School Network, whose sole purpose is to get more charter schools into Delaware.
There is a rotten and horrible cancer eating away in that building. It infests every single office and edict that comes out of it. It’s called greed.
I welcome any reply from Dee on these subjects. I am very aware of the agenda, but I would also like to hear Dee’s perspective on what I have said. Should she accept my gauntlet, I would like her to please not say “That’s not true” as I have heard from so many people at the DOE. But I hardly ever hear WHY something isn’t true. This is your mission on here Dee, should you choose to accept it.
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Kevin,i want to hear from Dee more than you know. I just know what can be believed…AND what can’t. There is an agenda.
I have one too, but hers is undeniable
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Let’s also be very very very clear: i am 100000000% I hair of her commenting here just expressing my sincere skepticism in her angle, as she would undoubtedly believe about me.
Trust me on this one,i know.
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Bottom line, you did NOT get schooled. In the least.
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