Delaware House Bill 50, co-sponsored by Delaware House Rep. John Kowalko and Delaware State Senator Dave Lawson has officially been released. While it does not show up on the Delaware General Assembly website yet due to the recess during Joint Finance Committee hearings, the bill is official.
Since the bill was introduced for circulation purposes a couple weeks ago, new language has been added to give protections to teachers, principals and schools.
“The Department (DOE) shall report opt-out numbers in accountability ratings to provide context and impact on school and district ratings; however, the opt-out numbers shall not factor into the accountability ratings.”
What is interesting about this bill is the sponsors on it. Kowalko told Exceptional Delaware “Kim Williams and Paul Baumbach are being added to the bill as sponsors.” So sponsors from the House include Kowalko, Williams, Baumbach, and Helene Keeley, all reps who voted no on House Bill 334, which signed the Smarter Balanced Assessment into law. But State Rep. Jeffrey Spiegelman voted yes. As for the Senate Sponsors, Lawson voted no, while Margaret Rose Henry voted yes. New State Reps Sean Matthews and Lyndon Yearick are also sponsoring the parent opt out bill but they were not a part of the 147th General Assembly.
There seems to be a shift in thinking in regards to the state assessment in Delaware. Spiegelman told this blog last fall that the legislature was in an impossible situation with the Smarter Balanced Assessment since Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Murphy had already bought the assessment for Delaware. Many legislators reported it didn’t matter what they voted because Governor Jack Markell’s staff told them even if it was turned down, Markell would sign an executive order if need be.
For many people, that very brief moment of victory when the bill was defeated in the Senate, and then rescinded a brief time later, and then passed was a dark moment for Delaware education. Many folks blamed the one Republican Senator who changed his vote, but there were also three Democrats.
Below is a copy of House Bill 50 which is the version that will be submitted to the House Education Committee when the General Assembly returns in mid-March. To help support this bill, please use the hashtag #supporthb50
The Season Of Myths 
Now to fast track this bill. Parents need this whole issue cleared up, so they may do what is best for their child, not what is best for some testing company’s profits.
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Clarity on HB334 which allowed the Smarter Balanced Assessment to go forward. The reason the Republican is singled out is because despite having special needs children of his own which will now get ground up and ruined by this process, (so we all know he is not ignorant over the issue as could be those three democrats who also switched) he sold them out for a spot on Chuck Todd’s show…
There is no comparison there between him to anyone else…That is the lowest of all possible lows…
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Now, if we could add an amendment requiring schools to inform parents of their right to opt out and/or get written permission to test their child. 🙂 Of course, this is only if there is no penalty toward teacher accountability or a school’s AYP.
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