Family Foundations Parents AND Teachers, It’s Time To Tell The Truth!!!!!

Anyone even remotely associated with Family Foundations Academy needs to bear all about this school, and now would be the time to do it.  If you know of any problems there such as financial mismanagement, bullying issues, abuse, harassment, special education issues, test manipulation, anything, please be honest and let the Delaware Department of Education Charter School Office know what’s really going on there.  Children are the victims of the outright fraud and manipulation perpetrated by the Heads of School there.  In the end, it doesn’t really matter who spent more on school credit cards for personal use.  It’s not right, and anything else that has gone on there needs to be brought to the surface.  This message is also for teachers, former teachers, staff members and any board member that wants to come clean.

Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Murphy and the Delaware State Board of Education will make a decision on the charter renewal of Family Foundations Academy at the January 15th State Board of Education meeting.  They are also extending public comment until the end of the day on January 12th.

As per the charter school office website:

On December 18, pursuant to the approval of the Family Foundations Academy Board of Directors to waive the 60-day time period for a decision on its renewal application, the Secretary of Education deferred the decision to allow for necessary due diligence on potentially serious allegations of financial mismanagement.  The Secretary of Education will announce his decision at the January 15, 2015 State Board of Education meeting, to be held at 1:00 p.m. in the Townsend Building in Dover.

Under the original renewal process timeline, the deadline for public comment was Friday, December 12 and the record closed prior to the December 18 State Board of Education meeting. Since the timeline for FFA’s renewal has been extended, the DOE will also extend the timeline in which public comments may be submitted and materials may be added to the record. The new deadline for all public comment and new materials will be Monday, January 12, at 11:59 p.m.

All public comment and new materials may be submitted to the Charter School Office by email at infocso@doe.k12.de.us. Public comments may also be submitted through an online form.

 

Delaware DOE Town Hall Meetings This Month To Get Community Input On ESEA Flex Waivers

As per everyone’s favorite Delaware DOE Public Information Officer:

State seeks public input on ESEA Flexibility renewal

The Delaware Department of Education is seeking public input on its ESEA Flexibility waiver renewal application. 

The U.S. Department of Education has offered states the opportunity to apply for renewed flexibility from specific requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA Flexibility). To receive renewal states must describe their plans to meet core principles in four major areas:

1. College- and career-ready expectations for all students
2. Differentiated recognition, accountability and support systems for schools and districts
3. Supporting effective instruction and leadership
4. Reducing duplication and unnecessary burden 

The Delaware Department of Education received an ESEA Flexibility waiver in 2012 for two years through the end of the 2013-14 school year and a one-year extension earlier this year that is valid through the end of the 2014-15 school year. Information about the approved waiver and extension may be found at http://dedoe.schoolwires.net/Page/330.

The town halls are scheduled for:

• 4 to 5 p.m., Friday, January 9 online
• 6 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 14 at the Carvel Building 2^nd Floor auditorium, 820 N. French St. in Wilmington
• 6 to 7 p.m., Thursday, January 15 at the William Henry Middle School auditorium, 65 Carver Road in Dover
• 6 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 21 online
• 6 to 7 p.m., Thursday, January 22 at the Woodbridge High School auditorium, 14712 Woodbridge Road in Greenwood

Information about how to join the online town halls and presentation materials will be available shortly at http://dedoe.schoolwires.net/Page/1801.

Alison May alison.may@doe.k12.de.us (302) 735-4000

I think anyone who can make these meetings should attend.  These are the same waivers that have allowed for the creation of the priority schools and will do further damage to our schools in order to fulfill Markell and Rodel’s corporate education reform agenda.  More information on the intention of these waivers can be found here: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg110.html#sec9401

 

 

GOP on the way to rewrite NCLB and Arne Duncan trying to grab for executive power! Did somebody say school vouchers ?

I love how this article didn’t touch on what is really happening with all of this, which I wrote in a comment for this:
Let’s face facts, Arne Duncan AND President Obama have used the rigid requirements of No Child Left Behind as an impetus to introduce the corporate education reform agenda on an unsuspecting public. This has never been about improving proficiency gaps between minorities and regular students, or special needs students and regular students. It is and always has been about finding ways to punish public school districts, bust the teacher unions, and turn more public school district schools into charter schools.

I see this playing out in my own state of Delaware at this very moment. They took six schools with low-income, high minority, and higher than average special needs populations, and designated them as “priority” schools based on standardized test scores. They forced complex and insulting demands on the two school districts involved and have used bullying tactics to force them to sign their memorandum of understanding. Our state Governor, Jack Markell, has flat-out said if the districts do not comply, he “will not hesitate” to do what he has to do, which is to turn them into charter schools. What he will not say, is the “coincidence” that all six of these schools are within a square mile in Wilmington of a structure called the Community Education Building, which was donated by Bank Of America for the sole purpose of holding more charters. Our state Department of Education has stated in emails revealed through FOIA requests, that they “want” these six schools. When ever more documents are released, I have no doubt they will show even more proof of collusion and deceit against these school districts. A decision on these six schools is expected to be rendered by Governor Markell on January 23rd.

Common Core and standardized testing are just catalysts for this charter school movement which will results in the wealthy getting even richer through hedge funds and other investments. Meanwhile the ACLU in our state has filed a complaint against our state and one of the school districts as a charter school authorizer over enrollment tactics that have resulted in segregation in many of our schools. This is not what education should be about, and standardized testing has not proven anything long-term in regards to increased educational performance aside from how good teachers can teach to the test. No matter what happens with this bill, when the scores from the PARCC and Smarter Balanced Assessment scores come out next summer, parents will be demanding these Common Core driven tests will disappear. If the standardized test scores disappear, so will the corporate education reform movement led by Bill Gates and other wealthy “foundations”, as the US DOE and state DOEs will not be able to use those scores to their own advantage. Hopefully by then, it will not be too late for the students and teachers who have suffered the most as a result of these corrupt policies.

How reformy can the National PTA get? See its most recent publication for the answer.

I don’t think any state PTA should be forced to accept the dictates of a national PTA. Agree? Disagree?

Delaware DOE Extends Timeline For Priority Schools Deadline To Christina School District

The new tentative deadline for the Christina School District to submit their revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the three Priority Schools within their district is now January 23rd.  There is a catch here though.  Christina must submit the draft to date by January 9th, and the deadline will be extended if the DOE feels the draft is “substantially approvable”.  The Christina school board will have a meeting on Tuesday, January 20th to have a final vote on the MOU and their priority school plans and they must submit this by the next day, January 21st.  As well, the Delaware DOE will be giving their final comments on Friday, January 16th.

The Christina School Board will be having a meeting on January 7th to work on the priority schools plan some more at 7:00pm.  As well, the Christina Educators Association will be holding a press conference prior to the meeting at 6:30pm.

Other big meetings in January include the Delaware State Board of Education  meeting on January 15th.  This meeting could have a final decision on the fate of Family Foundations Academy in light of years of financial mismanagement and personal use of state funds, as highlighted this week in the well over 200 pages released by the Delaware DOE from the auditing firm of Auphsite Consulting.  The Delaware 148th Assembly begins their legislative year on January 13th, and there just may be some education fireworks that launch very quickly in the form of potential legislation submitted.

For those who haven’t signed the iPetition declaring their position against the priority schools initiative, please go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/lets-make-priority-schools-a-real-priority-2