My Guess? Odyssey Has Issues With Women On Their Board…

The Board of Directors at Odyssey Charter School in Wilmington, DE clearly does not benefit from having their members publicly elected.  Especially if you are a woman.  Like something taken out of the late 19th Century, Odyssey seems to be very comfortable with discussing the downplaying of females on their board.  There are nine members on Odyssey’s board but five are made of representation from the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association.  Yes, they have the word Progressive in their title.  But you wouldn’t know it based on the below conversation at their May 2016 board meeting.  I really can’t wait to hear charter board meetings when the audio recording law takes effect at the start of this school year!

But the kicker is that this board can never be dominated by women.  Why?  Because of “The Brotherhood”…

How can you call yourself progressive but limit the role of women in a governing body?  Has this board forgotten about civil rights and equality?  Did they know very important rules passed in this country regarding women’s rights?  It isn’t just women that are reduced on this board.  We see a very clear disliking of their Parent Teacher Organization as well.   Guess how many women joined their board the next month?  A big fat zero!  I’m not sure what their male: female ratio is on their board now.  I know they had 3 out of 9 women on the board prior to this vote.  I can’t wait to hear Odyssey’s board meetings.  I’m assuming they don’t pay their bills with Susan B. Anthony coins…

Delaware Governor Debates Show Interesting Perspectives On Education

Last week, Delaware Public Media released videos with the four candidates for Delaware Governor.  With issues ranging from education to the budget to jobs to healthcare to violence, this was an excellent way to hear what Colin Bonini, John Carney, Sean Goward, and Lacey Lafferty truly believe.  I think John Carney may have some severe competition, and not from the corner you think.  Goward delivered excellent responses to the questions.  Bonini was very vague with a lot of his answers.  Both Carney and Bonini played up their past job titles.  I did not agree with some of the education aspects Bonini and Lafferty support.  The only candidate who even touched on special education was Goward.  Failure to address special education while talking about behavior in the classroom makes me very worried if Bonini or Lafferty won.  I heard a lot of talk from Carney about getting kids ready for college.  All but Bonini said they want to reorganized the Department of Education.  All seem to think education funding is a big concern.

I don’t like how Carney just wants everyone to mend fences and get along.  That isn’t a solution, that’s the Delaware Way.  Education is very divisive because the most important sides to education have been ignored for years in favor of corporate education reform.  I do respect how Carney wants to recalibrate the DOE into a liason between the feds and the local school districts.  But he seems a little bit too embedded in the Delaware Way.  By ignoring the issues, he is setting himself up to be ineffective.

In my eyes, and I listened to all the issues, Goward won this hands down.  He has some very interesting ideas.  He isn’t bought by the system and he has unique perspectives on a lot of issues that actually make sense.  Thank you to Tom Byrne at Delaware Public Media for putting these videos up.  I still want to hear more from all the candidates on their ideas for education, but any candidate who mentions the OECD is already way ahead of the game!

Colin Bonini: Republican

John Carney: Democrat

Sean Goward: Libertarian

Lacey Lafferty: Republican

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