Here we go. Another Delaware school district following the path of least resistance by adhering to a faulty and illegal Delaware Department of Education “template” for parent opt out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment. There is nothing in the ESEA that says a parent can’t opt their child out either. Keep hanging yourselves. Which district got caught with their hands in the “illegal response to parent opt out letter” jar this time?
Day: February 25, 2015
Is Rep. Earl Jaques speaking for The People or Markell and DOE saying Parent Opt-Out Bill won’t pass?
UncategorizedAt the Christina Educators Association meeting tonight, State Rep. and Chair of the House Education Committee in Delaware Earl Jaques told members that House Bill 50, the parent opt out bill, will not pass. My question to Jaques is this: how would you know this information when it hasn’t even been discussed in the House Education Committee? You are one of forty-one members in the Delaware General Assembly House of Representatives.
Here is my public challenge to you Rep. Jaques: If you are against this bill then you need to publicly explain to every single Delaware parent exactly why you are against it. It sounds to me like you have already made up your mind without any thought put behind it. This is exactly what we have seen from Governor Markell and the Delaware DOE for the past six years. Plowing ahead without any parent or educator input whatsoever is not a strategy, it is a problem. Now that the problems are getting a public face, then you need to defend your side of the argument. You were elected by the people of Delaware to serve the people of Delaware. Not Governor Markell or the Delaware DOE. I look forward to your response.
Attorney General Legal Opinion For Delaware Requested On Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Court Ruling
Smarter Balanced AssessmentI have submitted a request for a formal Attorney General Legal Opinion based on the Missouri Circuit Court ruling yesterday on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. I have been told these types of requests by a citizen of Delaware are denied on the basis of standing, so I would welcome any elected official in Delaware to take up the baton in the event my request is denied.
To
- Denn Matthew (Attorney General)
- CC
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- Williams Kimberly (LegHall)
- Siegel Kim (Lt Governor)
- Lawson Dave
- Kowalko John (LegHall)
- Murphy Mark
- Johnson Donna R.
- Matthew Albright
- Avi Wolfman-Arent
- Paul Baumbach
- Townsend BryanM
- Markell Jack
- John Young
- Kilroy’s Delaware
- Kavips World Press Blog
- Nancy Willing
- Pandora DeLib
- rick@wdel.com
- Terri Hodge
- Mike Matthews
- Jackie H. Kook
- frederika.jenner@dsea.org
- O’Mara Lindsay (Governor)
- May Alison
Good morning Attorney General Matt Denn,
My name is Kevin Ohlandt and I live in Dover, DE. Yesterday I saw a court ruling from the Cole County Circuit Court in Missouri where it was ruled by Judge Daniel Green that the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium was determined to be an illegal entity violating the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution. More specifically, Article I, Paragraph 10, Clause 3.
I would like to formally request a Legal Opinion by your office on the legality of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium in Delaware in relation to this Court ruling in the state of Missouri.
I have attached the actual court ruling.
Thank you,
Kevin Ohlandt
Breaking News: Court Rules Smarter Balanced Assessment Violates The U.S. Constitution
Smarter Balanced Assessment“The Court finds that the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is an unlawful interstate compact to which the U.S. Congress has never consented, whose existence and operation violate the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution”
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium has been ruled to be breaking many laws in our country according to Judge Daniel R. Green of the Circuit Court of Cole County in Missouri. The most important of which is the fact that it was never passed by Congress. The Court also found that taxpayer money must not be given to this unlawful compact.
The Missouri Coalition Against Common Core, led by Frank Sauer, filed suit against Missouri Governor Jay Nixon last year. Judge Green, on November 26th, ordered a two week restraining order against any taxpayer dollars going to the SBAC. Yesterday, he gave his final ruling against Governor Nixon and essentially invalidated the very premise of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.
For my own state of Delaware, I will be forwarding this case to our Attorney General Matt Denn for an official legal opinion on this type of arrangement within our own state.
Special thanks to the awesome Delaware blog Minding My Matters for bringing this to my attention.
Updated, 11:33am, 2/25/15: Diane Ravitch has written a post on this as well based on an article in the Missouri News Tribune which can be read here and gives more details on the case:
The Season Of Myths 