Merry Christmas To All The Heroes of Delaware Public Education! You are Awesome! @KilroysDelaware @ed_in_de @RCEAPrez @Apl_Jax @ecpaige @nannyfat @Roof_O @DelawareBats @BadassTeachersA #netde #eduDE #Delaware #edchat

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the folks who I’ve met along this crazy blog highway.  Especially to the one who got me started on this mess: the man, the myth, the legend and the trailblazer, Kilroy!  In my book, you are all heroes for public education in various ways.  I’ve talked to or emailed all of you at various times, or commented on your blogs, or read your comments on mine.  I may not always agree with all of you 100% of the time, but your hearts are in the right place.  You are all the people I would want to see leading education in this state.  2014 sucked for a lot of us, but next year our voice will be heard, and it will be loud!!!!

Without Further Ado, here are the Good Guys & Gals of Public Education:

Kilroy
John Young
Mike Matthews
Jackie Kook
Matt Lindell
Nelia Dolan
Eve Buckley
Elizabeth Paige
Harrie
Melanie Curriden
Kavips
Nancy Willing
Pandora
Kathy Willis
Steve Newton
Liz Toney
Elizabeth Scheinberg
Kim Williams
John Kowalko
Paul Baumbach
Steve Fackenthall
Mike Kempski
Brian Townsend
Mike Ostevich
Danny Rufo
Elizabeth Lockman
Bill Doolittle

and last but not least,

The Delaware Bats

And there are some out-of-state folks I want to give a shout out to: Melissa Katz, Hannah Hurley, Diane Ravitch, Noel Hammatt, Mindy Rosier, Nancy Bailey, Teachezwell, Commoncorediva, Mercedes Schneider, WagTheDog, EduSchyster, and all the members of the Badass Teachers Association!

I look forward to 2015, and hopefully we can all put a stop to the collision course between the DOE and public education.  I’ll be there, writing about as much as I can!  There are some folks who are on the fence with this stuff, and I hope to include you next year when you finally immerse yourself in what’s going on out there.

Finally, my biggest hero of all, is this guy.  He’s everything to me, and I would be nothing without him.  He’s had a rough time of it lately, and inside I’m dying.  I want to do everything I can for him, but I can’t win all the battles for him.  He is fast approaching the age when he will have to take control and do the right things for himself.  Mom and Dad won’t always be there to protect him, but we are now, and we will do whatever it takes to do so.  He wasn’t given an easy start to school.  I can see why things happen the way they do,, and it’s not all about the fight for public education.  There are things that go on in schools and I have a feeling this will become a huge topic in 2015 for me.  I may have to go against the grain on this blog, but some things need said.

My son Jacob….

The Murphy’s Law Of Christmas Presents for the Enemies of Public Education @KilroysDelaware @ed_in_de @RCEAPrez @Apl_Jax @nannyfat @ecpaige @Roof_O @DelawareBats #netde #eduDE #Delaware #edchat

As the leader of the Delaware Department of Education, Secretary of Education Mark Murphy sure was a bad boy this year. I would give him coal, but that’s not fair to the piece of coal. Murphy has shunned educators, participated in Governor Jack Markell’s bullying tactics with the priority schools, and taken all the right steps for Vision Takeover Of All Public Schools and Turn Them Into Charter Schools. In 2015, I think three of Murphy’s money-driven strategies will explode, so Murphy gets this:

When three major things go wrong with a product, it’s called a lemon. With Murphy’s version of education, I am predicting now that Common Core-Smarter Balanced, his Teacher Effectiveness witch hunt, and the Priority Schools initiative will all go the way of the dinosaur. When that happens, Murphy is going to need this, a free visit to Career Builder! Maybe he can find a new job like this:

And I really hope when you look back on your time as the destroyer of all that is good in Delaware education, and how you listened more to the folks at Rodel then the people who put your boss in the big chair, that this next thought messes with your mind more than you messed with educators, students and parents. Presenting, the next Delaware Secretary of Education:

Christmas Presents for the Enemies of Public Education: The Publius Edition @KilroysDelaware @ed_in_de @RCEAPrez @Apl_Jax @ecpaige @nannyfat @Roof_O #netde #eduDE #Delaware #edchat

Publius is a commenter on the famous Delaware blog, Kilroy’s Delaware. Publius is anonymous, but quite a few of us have figured out the true identity of this rather interesting individual. This isn’t a Clark Kent/Superman kind of thing, it’s more like a Verbal Kint/Keyser Soze kind of mystery. It’s bloggers code not to out anyone, but that doesn’t mean some of us don’t drop hints to let Publius know: “We know who you are!” Nobody ticks people off over on Kilroy’s more than this pompous ass, and Publius loves every minute of it.

This charter school loving commenter has an argument for everything. Kilroy allows him to do this, because of free speech, but also cause of blog ratings. The most watched news is usually the worst news, and Publius raises this level of curiosity in people, kind of like watching a house burning down. For the holidays, I thought I would give Publius a few gifts. Kilroy already got him a present this morning after I went off on Publius last night. This was the conversation, which was about the Priority Schools petition currently running, for folks to protest it.

Publius e decere, on December 23, 2014 at 6:44 pm said:

This petition is bunk.

Kevin Ohlandt, on December 23, 2014 at 11:29 pm said:
You are a pompous ass. You and the soulless “500 SOBs behind you” helped to create exactly what is going on with these schools. With your damn corporate games. Who the hell do you think you are? Do you think because you have money and you are some big player in the charter world you can dictate what fits in the almighty Publius world and what doesn’t? I know you just can’t help yourself, but you are proving more and more every day why you are nothing but a coward hiding behind a fake name. Be a man and show the world who you really are. Can’t do that though, can you? Got a rep to live up to. It’s people like you that make the rest of us fight like hell to protect what is being taken by you monsters.

Did Publius deserve my ire? Yeah, Publius is like nails on a chalkboard, or that annoying noise that comes out of a balloon when you let the air out just right.

Publius believes enrollment preference is a charter school’s God given right, even in the face of an ACLU lawsuit going on in Delaware. He comes from a culture where money is the only thing that matters, and only the best can move forward. So I thought I would give him a present to show him the error of his ways. So in 2015, Publius will get this:

to see how children are treated at many charters in America:

because we know the end goal for Publius and his corporate education reformer sons of bitches behind him is this:

So Merry Christmas Publius, and we look forward to hearing more of your insane midnight rantings on Kilroy’s. I know I’ll actually see you around town.

The Priority Schools Petition Needs You! @BadassTeachersA @hanna_hurley @edtraveler @DelawareToday @WDEL @wboc @CapeGazette @DoverPost @Avi_WA @WHYY @witn22 @DoverPost @TheStateNews @SunTimesJenn @journalistandre @MikeOnMilford @acherry13 #netde #Delaware #edchat #eduDE #prioritizethat

We need more people to sign the petition against the Priority Schools! It only takes 30 seconds, and you are done! These children in these schools are being used by a state that cares more about data and greed than true education. Don’t let the students at the six schools be treated as something less than what they are. It’s all about turning them into charter schools. These children need the educators they have. These educators actually care about these students. They could go to other schools. But no, they choose to stay and fight. For the children of Wilmington. Please sign today, every voice and signature DOES make a difference!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/lets-make-priority-schools-a-real-priority-2