The Secret Weapon Jack Markell Never Saw Coming

For ten years, ever since Dr. Paul Herdman and his group of merry men published Opportunity Knocks, Jack Markell has been at the forefront in the conversation on education in Delaware.  But now, he is faced with an enemy that even he couldn’t foresee because he doesn’t have the capability.

Do you hear that noise Governor Markell?  It’s called chatter.  It’s the voice of the people and we are getting louder every day.  You hear it all around you.  It must be frustrating to witness your world crumbling around you, your legacy finally exposed.  It’s starting to crack and splinter, and it has to gnaw at you more and more every day.

Presumption and assumption are very dangerous things.  They are the bane of any strategist.  For years, you assumed we were okay with what you were doing with education.  You presumed to know what is best for our children.  We allowed this for a long time.   But then two little words came up in the conversation: opt and out.  It began as nothing more than a whisper, and then a small voice.  Now it is all you ever hear.  The echo down the hall, now a booming cacophony of destruction meant to tear down the wall that is corporate education reform.

You created this Jack, and now you are seeing the fruits of your labor.  In the annals of Delaware history, you will go down as the Governor who truly made the people speak.  You forced us into this position, all of us.  The parents, the students, the teachers, even some of your friends.  When anyone is pushed to the wall too hard, they will start to push back and fight.  It’s the nature of man.  You gave us an out through your own actions.  We heard the whisper, and opportunity knocked.