Which Songs Best Describe Delaware Governor Jack Markell’s Education Policies?

Delaware Governor Jack Markell loves education. He loves it so much he vetoes bills that go against parental rights, makes sure teachers are evaluated on faulty data, and loves high-stakes tests. He also loves money! And the money pouring out of his state into Education Inc.’s grabby little hands is very transparent! Out of the songs in this poll, which songs do you think best exemplifies Jack Markell’s education policies and agendas? For this special poll, I am allowing up to four answers, so you can pick four songs!

National Education Association To Advocate For Full IDEA Special Education Funding

I didn’t want to put “news” up on the 4th of July, but this one was too important to pass by.  The National Education Association (NEA) is having their Annual Representative Assembly in Washington D.C. this week.  They just passed an item to launch a digital campaign to advocate for the full funding of IDEA.  Since it was reauthorized in 2004, the feds have never given the full amount of funding for special education in America.  Here is how it works now: The feds, through IDEA Part B funding, pays about 10-15% of special education costs while states and local districts pay the rest.  However, the original intent was for the feds to pay up to 40% of a student’s special education costs.

This glaring omission on the feds part results in states and districts bearing the brunt of the costs.  And in a state like Delaware, where there is no Basic Special Education funds from the state for students in Kindergarten to 3rd grade, the local district or charter is forced to pay for 100% of special education services for these students.  Despite excellent legislation that would have provided these funds over a period of years for these students, the Delaware General Assembly as a collective body refused to allocate these funds in their most recent budget and the bill didn’t move past being released from the House Appropriations Committee.  This should be a no-brainer, but our budget is filled with pork that could have easily been cut to make room for this.

I salute the NEA for their advocacy on this issue.  As states struggle with different education funding models, the US DOE needs to step up and do their promised part.  But it is up to Congress to allocate these funds.  Thank you NEA!

Thank you to Mike Matthews for putting this picture up on Facebook!

The Best Song About America! Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!  What is your favorite hit about America, the USA?  There are a lot, so I had to narrow it down.  I didn’t include the staples like “Star-Spangled Banner” and “America, The Beautiful”.  These are originals!  Have an awesome day, no matter what you are doing.  And be safe!  Despite various issues we may have with our country, we still live in the best country in the world.  We have freedoms we take for granted.  Sometimes those freedoms are increasingly taken from us but the beauty of America is that we have the mechanisms in place to change things back or  move forward with new change.  God bless America!