.@GovernorMarkell Happy Holidays Mr. Enigma, Here’s Your Present @KilroysDelaware @ed_in_de @RCEAPrez @Apl_Jax @ecpaige @nannyfat @Roof_O @DelawareBats @Avi_WA @TNJ_malbright @RodelDE @DeDeptofEd @DEStateBoardEd #netde #eduDE #Delaware #edchat

I can’t figure you out Jack Markell.  Especially after seeing that video Kilroy put up last weekend from 2008 when you talked about all the segregation going on at the charter schools.  Flash forward to the present when you are holding six public schools hostage to the charter school agenda.  When did you change Jack?  Or were you just trying to please potential voters when you ran in 2008?  Personally, I think it’s the latter, given that you and Rodel did your blueprint for education back in 2005.  But here’s some presents for you to view and think about before you make a big decision in the coming weeks.

As your governorship draws to a close in the next couple of years, Delaware will remember your legacy.  Will you be a Bailey or a Potter?  Cause right now, most of us in this state see you as a Potter.  This clip from It’s A Wonderful Life is the best comparison to the priority schools initiative.  Dangle some money at them, make a big spectacle and flashy presentation, entice them, and draw them in.  That’s what happened on September 4th.  Like Potter, I’m sure you thought they would jump at the chance.  But there are too many Bailey’s in Delaware that know better.  That what you were offering comes at a very steep price.  Too many lives are affected by this decision.

If this is the future of education in Delaware, threats and dangling carrots, then I think Delaware has become a very awful place to raise our children.  Are you a Rodel man or a Delaware man?  Cause guess what Jack, you can’t be both.  I would rather pay more in state taxes than kiss the feds ass when it comes to education.  Take their measly 10% in education funding and send it back to D.C.  Because at the end of the day, it’s not about the money.  It’s about the students, who shine in the darkness, who try to overcome adversity to become more than what society says they are.  The problems in Wilmington won’t go away, not any time soon.  What happens when all these kids are in charter schools and start dropping out?  All you are doing is repeating the cycle, over and over again.  These children are more than test scores.  All the students in Delaware are more than test scores.  Stop treating them like data, and see them as unique and individual creations of God.

The teachers in the priority schools ARE doing the right thing.  They are teaching these students, going the extra mile for them.  They have a passion for helping these kids.  They could go somewhere else, but they choose to stay.  What does that tell you?  Why would you ever want teachers on a fast track degree with very little experience educating these most vulnerable of students?  And nobody cares more about these students than the principals at these schools.  They are given a very heavy task, and while they may not be perfect, they are irreplaceable.  It makes no sense, unless there is a financial payoff down the road.  As my second gift for you Jack, I proudly present the students of the priority schools.

Remember this Governor Markell, if you take these schools away from their rightful districts, you will ALWAYS be remembered as a Potter.