På en fredag ​​kväll, länge sedan

Idag är en promenad ner minne lane. På den fredagskvällen under sommaren av kärlek mötte vi dig och jag. Jag kommer aldrig att glömma de första orden. Det var alltid dina ögon som tog mig till en annan värld.

Jag kommer ihåg att köra ner på vägen den kvällen, sommarvinden blåser genom mitt bilfönster. Jag visste, jag visste i min tarm att något skulle hända. Jag visste inte vad eller omständigheterna i det, men jag visste.

Några timmar senare träffade jag dig. Det förändrade min värld och utvidgade den, mer än jag någonsin skulle kunna inse. Vi pratar inte längre, men jag vill tacka för det. Tjugotvå år. Jag tänker fortfarande på dig, men jag vet också att du är lycklig nu. Det är allt som är viktigt för mig. Till slut var det den verkliga anledningen jag lämnade, så du kunde ha lycka. Jag befinner mig i fred med det.

En gåva av en tistel…evigt.  Det vackraste jag vet.

 

Why Does Our State Auditor Only Find Things Like The Sussex Tech Fraud From Tips? Are There More Sussex Tech Situations We Don’t Know About?

Boom! Jack Wells sent one hell of an email to Delaware State Auditor Tom Wagner today.  This is one for the record books and opens up a whole new ballpark on the question of financial oversight of our school districts and charter schools!

TO: Mr. Thomas Wagner, Auditor of Accounts

This report reveals numerous problems that were “only” revealed because the Office of Auditor of Accounts {AOA} received an anonymous complaint on 1 July 2014. 

While I am concerned about the findings, I am even more troubled why these findings were not identified in the State of Delaware Statewide School Districts’ Construction Projects Attestation Engagements conducted in fiscal years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.  

Question: Since these reports did not reveal the problems identified in the report conducted by your auditors as a result of an anonymous complaint, can you inform me the purpose of these engagements/examinations?

Comment: Some findings were revealed, however the report ending June 30,2015 states: “Our examination disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards. Hopefully your answer to my question will disclose what must be reported under Government Auditing Standards.

While I am troubled by these findings, I have to wonder if these findings and others problems are not being revealed by the engagements/examinations that are being conducted each year. Provided below are the number of districts that are audited each fiscal year.

Fiscal Year     # of  School Districts  Audited

2012                   18

2013                   17

2014                   18

2015                   18

2016                   16

I have to wonder if the findings on Sussex Technical are only the tip of an iceberg.

Finally and even more troubling is the fact that audits required by law to verify expenditures of $2.3 billion annually for the education of our children were legal and used for the purpose provided are not conducted.

Amen Jack!  I am dying for these questions to be heard.  But I fear we will only hear the empty vacuum of space on this.

ALL The Delaware Education Legislation In The General Assembly: Signed, Passed, Pending, & Tabled

*Updated with new legislation, votes on the floor, and committee agendas for tomorrow

Confused by all the Education legislation floating around in Delaware?  Can’t keep track of it all?  Don’t worry, I can’t either sometimes.  But I felt it was necessary to reestablish my old tradition of putting it all together.  I will update this as the Delaware 149th General Assembly finishes off the first half of this session on June 30th and when they reconvene in January 2018.  Below are all 50 of the education bills that have come up in the 149th General Assembly just this year alone.  More legislation will come by the time it is all done on June 30th, 2018.

Delaware House Passes Cursive Bill With 36 Yes, 1 No, & 1 Not Voting

It looks like the anti-cursive police are done in Delaware!  The Delaware House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed House Bill 70 yesterday.  The only no was State Rep. Jeff Spiegelman and State Rep. John Kowalko did not vote.  State Reps. Kenton, Viola, and Hensley were absent.

When this bill was heard by to the House Education Committee, it was met with opposition by a woman named Kate Gladstone.  She spent the next couple of weeks after that trying to convince my readers why cursive is horrible.  Any disagreement with her kept it going.  I never thought I would see the day when I would see an anti-cursive rant on this blog, but c’est la vie!

Some legislators reached out to me for my thoughts on this bill.  Some felt this is a decision best handled by local school boards.  I agreed with that, however NONE of them stepped up at all to make this a reality.  I do not mind some decisions mandated by the state.

The bill did have an amendment added to it which changes the date of implementation to the 2018-2019 school year if it passes.  The bill will go to the Delaware Senate Education Committee.

Guest Post: Christie Shirey On Our Out Of Touch General Assembly

Christie Shirey, a Laurel, DE citizen, wrote what so many of us are feeling in Delaware these days.  We are tired of our legislators trying to figure things out.  We are tired of budget deficits.  She summed this up in a few paragraphs and really makes me wonder what our General Assembly’s true priorities are these days.  Thank you Christie, and thank you for letting me post what you wrote!  I want to know more about this tunnel!

Can someone explain Delaware voters to me? Summary of the situation: We are facing an over $350 Million budget deficit with our Governor telling us we all will have to share the pain, schools are warning we will have a lot less teachers in the classroom and the elected politicians are talking about increasing every tax you can think of. Meanwhile, the elected Legislature is spending its time on passing late term abortions, assisted suicide and recreational Marijuana.

It has been 4 months since a Correctional Officer was killed in a prison riot without a single charge against anyone. Almost 100 people have died from heroin overdose in just the first half of this year (May I point out that the highway deaths are 35 for this same time period). Someone from the State had to write a check for a very lucrative business deal with one of our local schools and a local businessman after the school pleaded for more taxpayer money. Our Governor and State General Assembly is busy proclaiming Obama Day and joining the U.S. Climate Alliance to uphold the Paris Alliance while our State Police are finding a drug tunnel in Delaware larger than most of our houses that has a connection to a Mexican drug cartel and $1 million in cash with the drugs.

The part I don’t understand is that I know Delaware will continue to elect these same individuals. They never seem to hold any of them responsible for not fixing any of the problems. Not even the ones that are leaving families fractured and in pain. Why doesn’t any of the Delaware voters ever place blame on the elected official who not only created these problems, but are doing nothing to fix anything?

East Side Charter Teacher Fired Over Allegations Of Physical Abuse Against A 10 Year Old Student

According to Fox29 Philly, a teacher at East Side Charter School in Wilmington was fired on Tuesday after alleged physical abuse against a 10 year old female student.

Without a note, she says her teacher refused to let her in class.  When she tried to walk through the classroom door a few minutes later, she said the 27-year-old male teacher picked her up and slammed her against a bulletin board.

The girl told her mother when she got home, according to the article.  She was taken to A.I. DuPont Hospital and was diagnosed with a bruised elbow.  Her arm is in a sling according to the picture in the article.  Charges are expected against the unnamed teacher today.  He began his tenure at Eastside this January.

Teachers hate reading this kind of stuff.  They know people will start saying this happens all the time and teachers get scrutinized over it.  To be clear, this does not happen all the time.  When it does happen though, I feel it is worth writing about.  When I see 27-year-old teacher who just started in January, I have to wonder where the teacher came from.  I know Eastside utilizes Teach for America and Relay Graduate School, which I find to be ineffective fast-prep teacher programs.

I do want to salute Eastside for taking quick and decisive action with this case.  It looks like there was surveillance video which is now in the hands of the Wilmington Police.

Delaware has over 13,000 teachers.  A few bad apples should not upset the whole cart.  I just hope the student in this case is okay and is able to return to an education setting without fear of punishment after getting to school a few minutes late.

 

Pray For New Mexico! Surfer Boy Is In Charge Now!

If we could all take a moment of silence for New Mexico public education…

Thank you.  Earlier yesterday, I found out New Mexico’s Secretary of Education, Hanna Skandera, gave her two-week notice.  What I failed to recognize was who her replacement was.  As news trickled out to me, I found myself very concerned for public school educators in New Mexico.  Yes, the  former Race To The Top Delaware DOE darling, the Surfer Boy himself, is now New Mexico’s Acting Secretary of Education.  You heard me right folks, Christopher Ruszkowski is now in charge of New Mexico public education.

According to a U.S. News & World report article:

Deputy Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski will serve as acting cabinet secretary, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez said.

Teachers in Delaware will ALWAYS remember the Surfer Boy for his Human Capital and Component V contributions to Delaware education.  Shall we go on… the Delaware Talent Cooperative, his love affair with Teach For America, bringing Relay into schools, and so on.  Ruszkowski left the Delaware DOE last year when he became the New Mexico Deputy Secretary of Education under Skandera.  He had been the Director of the Teacher Leader and Effectiveness Unit at the Delaware DOE.

All I can say is this: New Mexico, what in the name of Breaking Bad are you thinking?  But then again, they had Skandera, the Wonder Girl to Jeb Bush’s, uhm, Captain Underpants?  But even Surfer Boy is connected with Jeb Bush as he took a fellowship position in Jeb Bush’s corporate education reform group, Chiefs For Change, about a year ago.  Rumor has it Skandera may take a job under U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

It wasn’t long after I began this blog that I began writing about Ruszkowski.  You can read all the articles in THIS LINK.

A moment of silence isn’t enough for the teachers, students, educators, administrators, education bloggers, and hell, any taxpaying citizen in New Mexico.  Please continue praying for New Mexico.