On Saturday, Delaware State Representative Jeffrey Spiegelman wrote a letter to the editor in The State News. He announced a new piece of potential legislation that would severely limit some of the shenanigans the Delaware Department of Education has done in recent years. This bill would prevent the DOE from implementing any rule, regulation, or administrative procedure during a current school year unless approved by the local school board. They would have to implement any regulations over the summer so the schools can budget accordingly, as well as implement the changes without any interruptions to students and staff in the middle of a school year.
This bill hasn’t even been released yet, but it should gain traction fast. It seems like every time the DOE wants to make new rules, the local school districts are the ones that face the consequences. For example, the Priority Schools weren’t even announced until September 4th last year, already into the new school year. It came as a shock to Christina and Red Clay, and they were not happy about it. Had this been done over the summer, it could have given the districts and the school boards more time to prepare and strategize before all the students came back. It would also show the DOE they can’t do whatever they want whenever they want. It’s easy to sit down in Dover and make all the rules, but the reality on the ground is vastly different. I look forward to seeing what happens with this legislation!
Spiegelman is in his 2nd term as a Republican State Representative for the 11th District of Delaware. When he isn’t doing the legislative thing, he is an adjunct professor at Wilmington University and Delaware Technical and Community College. Other legislators are attached to this potential bill, but as of “press time” I have not received an okay to put their names on it. The other co-sponsors on the bill are Senator Greg Lavelle and State Representative Earl Jacques who also serves as the head of the House Education Committee.
The Season Of Myths 