Teachers In Delaware Beware, Big Brother Is Watching You

So now I’m hearing principals are having mutual friends spy on teachers social media account.  Really?  Has it come to this?  People can’t even have a conversation without someone watching over them?  People can’t object to something they don’t feel is good for students or education without threats hanging over their head?  Welcome to Gestapo Delaware…

Are these directives coming from the district or the DOE?  Or Markell himself?  I can picture people standing around in an office. I don’t like what she said, he needs to go, they can’t do that.  Enough!  If you try to assert yourselves like this, it’s going to cause a lot of problems.  We are becoming exactly what they want us to.  They want us to shut up and divert away from the real issues with their phony proclamations and concerns.  Parents, whether you are a teacher or not, just opt out now.  Take away the ticking time bomb that is destroying education, and it’s not the test.  It’s the companies that are plundering our schools with their products and services.  As someone recently told me, “these are dark times in Delaware.”  Only parents can make the change necessary to fix this.

“Don’t worry if your kid tanks Smarter Balanced, it’s just the transition” The Biggest Lie Of Them All!

 

This is the biggest lie the DOE has thrust down parents throats here in Delaware.  “We expect scores to plummet.”  So, why would you, as a parent, have your child take a failing test?  It’s not the fault of the student, it’s the test.  The Smarter Balanced Assessment is so flawed and just plain bad.  This has been said by math scholars, child psychologists, and many high-esteemed professionals in education.

The companies that are behind all of this WANT your child to do bad.  They NEED your child to do bad so they can continue to sell their services, products and consultancy.  The only way to do this is to OPT OUT NOW.  Even if your child ALREADY STARTED TAKING THE TEST.  Cause nothing will throw a monkey wrench in this Ponzi scheme more than these companies receiving flawed data.

Stop relying on Governor Markell or the DOE to fix this, cause they won’t.  They created this monster in Delaware.  Everything they are doing is tied into this ONE TEST.  By having your child participate in this test, you are saying I don’t care where my taxpaying dollars go.  I don’t care if non-profits are making tons of money that they won’t be taxed on.  Your child is bought and sold like a commodity.  Is this what you want?  They don’t care about individuals.  All they care about is the bottom line… on a piece of paper with dollar signs on it.

If you are relying on House Bill 50 to come in and save the day, good luck.  From what I’m hearing they are intentionally doing NOTHING with this bill to see what happens with the review on testing in Delaware.  Which was the plan all along.  Notice how all this conversation about OTHER topics in education is coming out once the Smarter Balanced starts?  If you think that’s a coincidence, you are wrong.  It’s the smokescreen, the lies they are telling you.  They fooled us once by getting all of this going.  Do not be fooled again.

Exceptional Delaware Top 10 Lists Spring 2015 Edition With Predictions

It’s been a while since I’ve done this.  Happy first day of Spring.  As the snow comes down, I see change coming up but I also see the past rearing it’s ugly head.  This is education in Delaware.  I’ve been doing this a little over 9 months now, or 10 1/2 if you count my story on Kilroy’s.  But enough babbling from me, let’s get down with the countdowns!

Top 10 Articles from the past nine months:

1. I wrote this a few days before Thanksgiving.  Another blogger wrote about US DOE Secretary of Education Arne Duncan changing special education code in Federal regulations, and I jumped on it and expanded it a bit.  This one angered a lot of special needs parents, and for good reason.

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/us-doe-arne-duncan-drop-the-mother-of-all-bombs-on-states-special-education-rights-kilroysdelaware-ed_in_de-rceaprez-apl_jax-ecpaige-nannyfat-delawarebats-badassteachersa-wsj-nytimes/

2. This is what happens when every 5th grader in public school America has the same confusing Common Core math homework on the same night!

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/my-special-needs-sons-first-day-of-common-core-division-this-is-his-homework-kilroysdelaware-ed_in_de-dianeravitch-hanna_hurley-edtraveller-doverpost-delawareonline-thestatenews-washi/

3. This one shot up the charts fast.  When a Missouri circuit court judge made a ruling against the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, a wave of excitement spread throughout America.  Nothing has happened since, but I am still waiting on a legal opinion from our own Attorney General Matt Denn.

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/breaking-news-court-rules-smarter-balanced-assessment-violates-the-u-s-constitution/

4. This one had a little bit of rumor, a little bit of fact, and a lot of opinion.  Which will stand the test of time?

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/breaking-news-priority-schools-in-christina-will-convert-to-red-clay-in-2016/

5. This was my biggest Family Foundations Academy story.  Getting a nod from Newsworks certainly helped this one to grow.  This story is still read on an almost daily basis.

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/breaking-news-family-foundations-academy-under-financial-investigation-with-state-auditor-kilroysdelaware-ed_in_de-apl_jax-rceaprez-governormarkell-destateboarded-dedeptofed-tnj_malbright-de/

6. Rodel and Markell, a symbiotic theme in Delaware.  Find out the full scoop here!

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/delaware-race-to-the-top-hedge-funds-millions-wasted-the-story-of-rodel-markell-charters-the-vision-network-kilroysdelaware-ed_in_de-dwablog-apl_jax-nannyfat-ecpaige-delawarebat/

7. After hearing complaints from parents for weeks over how they were being treated in regards to opt out, I took the bull by the horns and said enough is enough and sent this long email.  I had NO response from anyone on this list.

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/email-to-delaware-superintendents-and-heads-of-school-re-parent-opt-out-de-doe-governor-markell-and-corporate-education-reform/

8. The whole opt out continues to bring a lot of new readers to this blog, and they see things you don’t typically see in mainstream media.  This is a wake-up call to the DOE, Schools and Markell: Parents are like a bear you really shouldn’t poke!

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/opt-out-week-in-delaware-begins-now/

9. I think this was a pivotal moment in the Delaware opt out movement.  It was the first organized gathering in Delaware to discuss this, and parents and teachers reacted.  When a major organization supported parent opt out, parents started to rise!

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/exclusive-explosive-events-at-delaware-pta-parent-opt-out-town-hall-last-night/

10. Apparently Dr. Holodick still hasn’t understood the message as I had to write another article a couple nights ago.  Parents DO understand, they just don’t agree with you.  Deal with it.

https://exceptionaldelaware.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/brandywine-superintendent-holodick-says-parents-cant-opt-out-not-your-choice-buddy/

Top 10 Referrers to Exceptional Delaware:

1. Facebook (Many “comments” on stories take place here among many different groups and individuals)

2. Google

3. Kilroy’s Delaware https://kilroysdelaware.wordpress.com/

4. Twitter

5. Yahoo

6. Children & Educators First http://elizabethscheinberg.blogspot.com/

7. Bing

8. Kavips https://kavips.wordpress.com/

9. AOL

10. Delaware Way http://delawareway.blogspot.com/

Top Ten Commenters on Exceptional Delaware

1. Kavips

2. John Young

3. delawareway

4. jax2816

5. kilroysdelaware

6. 4equity2

7. teachezwell

8. ericgustafson2015

9/10. Elizabeth/Eve Buckley (tie)

Top Ten Countries Reading Exceptional Delaware

1. USA

2. Canada

3. United Kingdom

4. Australia

5. India

6. Germany

7. Mexico

8. Russia

9/10. Netherlands/South Africa (tie)

Top Ten Search Engine Terms To Get To Exceptional Delaware

1. Exceptional Delaware  (duh)

2. Kilroy’s Delaware

3. Delaware Priority Schools

4. Family Foundations Academy

5. Sean Moore Delaware

6. Delaware IEP Task Force

7. federal government and Delaware IEP

8. tennell brewington

9. Penny Schwinn Delaware

10. arne Duncan special education

Top Ten Most Bizarre Searches Leading People To This Blog

1. Smarter Balance Song

2. publius coward delware title

3. misusecreditcardsinwilmingtoncharterschools

4. delaware principal pellet guns school

5. when we received exsepshinal leater for highscool

6. bank of america and u2

7. sex scandal 2015

8. how figure math problems for chuck e cheese manager assessment test

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10. i am groot autism

Top Ten People Who Wish I Never Started This Blog 2015 Edition

1. Delaware State Rep. Earl Jaques

2. Dr. Mark Holodick

3. Governor Jack Markell

4. Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Murphy

5. Dr. Lamont Browne

6. Dr. Paul Herdman

7. Moorebrewington

8. Brian Touchette

9. Christina Board Members Who Voted YES On Priority Schools MOU

10. Publius

Most Popular Weeks With Viewers

1. 11/24/14-11/30/14

2. 9/15/14-9/21/14

3. 2/23/15-3/1/15

4. 3/2/15-3/8/15

5. 3/9/15-3/15/15

6. 1/12/15-1/18/15

7. 2/16/15-2/22/15

8. 2/2/15-2/8/15

9. 1/5/15-1/11/15

10. 2/9/15-2/15/15

Top Ten Exceptional Delaware Predictions for 2015

1. Mark Murphy is either terminated or resigns

2. Mark Holodick takes his place

3. Office of Civil Rights comes back with scathing report against Delaware

4. More charter schools get scrutiny over finances

5. At least 3 districts won’t meet the 95% benchmark for standardized test participation rates

6. Delaware parents become a force to be reckoned with in the education conversation

7. Bullying and discrimination will become BIG issues

8. More bills will be introduced AND passed to limit the power of the Delaware DOE, Secretary of Education and the State Board of Education

9. US DOE will approve extension for teacher accountability and the Smarter Balanced Assessment

10. The four Wilmington school districts will become two and Brandywine will cause major problems during the process

 

Knock, Knock. Hello? Hello?! Mrs. Jenner? That’s odd. The light’s on, but nobody’s home.

There does seem to be a severe disconnect between what local EA members are being told and what is coming out from DSEA leadership to the media. You can’t play both sides and expect a favorable outcome with this.