House Bill #10 Would Make Recess Mandatory In Delaware Public Schools For Students In K-8

Sometimes a State Representative surprises me.  Today, Delaware State Representative Melanie Smith filed House Bill #10, which would change recess requirements in the State of Delaware for public schools.  Bring the play back to schools!

This Act entitles all students from kindergarten through the 8th grade who are enrolled in a Delaware public school to morning and afternoon recess periods and a lunch period that is at least 30 minutes in length. Morning and afternoon break periods must be at least 10 minutes in length each. Under this Act, students are entitled to morning and afternoon breaks and a lunch period only on a full day of school.                    

Can I get an Amen?  Before everyone starts with the “this should be a local decision”, I feel some bills should make every school district be uniform with certain things in education.  This is one of them.  Let’s get real.  This bill would not come about if our districts and charters were doing this already.  Many of them are, but not all of them.  And not enough.  Children need to play, especially during school.  I wish those recess requirements were longer, but it is a start.  We need to be emulating countries like Finland where recess is just as important as Language Arts or Math.  They also have shorter school days there and are considered to be one of the best countries in the world for education.

The Chair of the House Education Committee announced today there will be one more House Education Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 27th and this bill will be heard in that committee.  I am very happy to see some sanity coming back to public education.  I will take the small steps while they come.  Thank you for this bill Rep. Smith!  I would like it if you could attend the House Education Committee meetings though!

Delaware Cursive Bill Goes To Governor Carney For Signature

How about those apples Kate Gladstone?  The Delaware Cursive Bill, House Bill #70, passed the Delaware Senate today with 17 yes and 2 no votes.  Two State Senators were absent.  The no votes were State Senators Gary Simpson and Ernie Lopez.  Now the bill, which would make cursive instruction mandatory in Delaware public schools, will go to the desk of Governor John Carney for signature.

This was a surprisingly controversial bill this session.  A prior attempt at this legislation came out in the 148th General Assembly but failed to get a full vote in the House.  This time, it went all the way through the General Assembly.  It created a good amount of discussion concerning the worthiness of the bill.  Full disclosure, I fully supported this bill.

One of the folks opposed to the bill was a woman named Kate Gladstone.  She made it her mission at the House Education Committee meeting to make sure the bill went nowhere.  Obviously, most of the Delaware legislators were not swayed by her unconvincing arguments.  Perhaps another state will listen to you when they follow Delaware’s lead on this Ms. Gladstone!

I want to thank State Rep. Andria Bennett who saw this bill through as well as State Rep. Deb Hudson who gave it a valiant attempt two years ago!

New State Board of Education Member Dennis Loftus Will Replace Teri Quinn Gray As President

I reported earlier today Delaware Governor John Carney nominated Dr. Dennis Loftus for a seat on the Delaware State Board of Education.  This afternoon it was revealed during the Senate Executive Committee meeting prior to the vote he would become the President of the State Board of Education.  In Delaware, the Governor appoints the members of the State Board as well as the President of the board.  The board members vote for the Vice-President.  Dr. Teri Quinn Gray, the prior State Board President was selected by Delaware Governor Jack Markell in 2009, shortly after his inauguration.  The State Board of Education serves at the pleasure of the Governor.

Things just got very interesting for the State Board of Education.

 

 

Welcome To The New Age Of Secrecy In Delaware’s Public/Private Partnership Marriage From Hell

Imagine a division of state government that no longer reports to the Governor.  It reports to the Secretary of State.  But this division will have a director from the private sector.  This director will not have to make their financial information public.  The activities of this division will be considered a non-profit agency deliberately removing itself from Freedom of Information Act requests.  Welcome to Governor John Carney’s non-transparent public/private partnership where anything can happen behind closed doors and the public will never know about it.

Governor Carney’s Nomination For The Next State Board Of Education Member Is…

Yeah, the State Board of Education isn’t going anywhere.  Delaware Governor John Carney nominated the next person and this nomination is being considered by the Senate Executive Committee tomorrow.  Who is it?