Three more charter schools. Two in New Castle County, one in Kent. One centers around Spanish language skills. Another is a special education theme. One originally began with a theme of zero tolerance with school discipline but changed its tune. One had a ruckus last fall when their school leader was placed on leave because he wanted more pay for teachers.
Freire was controversial before they even opened due to their harsh discipline plans. ASPIRA has never had anything scandalous going on with them. Positive Outcomes is just plain awesome and I love what they do. Thomas Edison, aside from their board leader going AWOL last fall, tends to keep things quiet.
There are four Delaware charter schools I haven’t put up yet. They are Delaware Design-Lab High School, Gateway Lab School, Great Oaks, and Kuumba Academy. Design-Lab is taking full advantage of the 3/21 deadline for their FOIA response. The other three I heard nothing from. Not even an acknowledgement they received the FOIA request. They do still have a few more days. Gateway could be due to their recent change in leadership as Head of School Tim Griffiths resigned a few weeks ago. I left follow-up messages at Kuumba and Great Oaks with no response.
FREIRE CHARTER SCHOOL OF WILMINGTON
8-11, Wilmington
411 Students
0 Over $100k
DEMOGRAPHICS
African-American: 72%
American Indian: .5%
Asian: 1.9%
Hawaiian: .5%
Hispanic/Latino: 13.9%
White: 8%
Multi-Racial: 3.2%
English Language Learners: 2.4%
Low-Income: 48.9%
Special Education: 19%
SALARIES OVER $100k
*No employees making over $100,000, Paul Ramirez is the school leader.
LAS AMERICAS ASPIRA ACADEMY
K-8, Newark
740 Students, 439 four years ago when K-7
2 Over $100k
DEMOGRAPHICS
African-American: 13.1%
American Indian: .1%
Asian: 1.5%
Hawaiian: .1%
Hispanic/Latino: 60.3%
White: 23.9%
Multi-Racial: .9%
English Language Learners: 34.5%
Low-Income: 25.4%
Special Education: 8.6%
SALARIES OVER $100k
Margie Lopez-Waite, Head of School, $129,790
Gregory Panchisin, Chief Operating Officer, $109,475
POSITIVE OUTCOMES CHARTER SCHOOL
7-12
126 Students, 120 students four years ago
1 Over $100k
DEMOGRAPHICS
African-American: 32.5%
American Indian: .8%
Asian: 1.6%
Hawaiian: 0%
Hispanic/Latino: 5.6%
White: 59.5%
Multi-Racial: 0%
English Language Learners: 0%
Low-Income: 30.2%
Special Education: 69%
SALARIES OVER $100k
Edward Emmett, School Director, $100,221
THOMAS EDISON CHARTER SCHOOL
K-8, Wilmington
732 Students, 748 four years ago
1 Over $100k
DEMOGRAPHICS
African-American: 97.8%
American Indian: 0%
Asian: 0%
Hawaiian: 0%
Hispanic/Latino: 1.1%
White: 1.1%
Multi-Racial: 0%
English Language Learners: .5%
Low-Income: 75%
Special Education: 7%
SALARIES OVER $100k
Salome Thomas-EL, Head of School, $138,364 (four years ago he made $133,486)
The Season Of Myths 
This is more than annoying especially when the schools aren’t doing enough for the students. People at the top getting paid $100k+, while the teacher’s making a difference aren’t making enough & worse student’s are not getting what they need.
I’m not surprised to see this trend beginning to take place in Charter schools. Unfortunately, they are only trying to keep up with public schools and keep what talent they have. The amount of people who make $100k+ at Colonial School District is plain disturbing. Less than 10 years ago, they had a Kindergarten teacher with a doctorate who was making close to if not over $100k. This was a woman who used the system. She taught at the same place, Colonial paid for her mostly online classes. She continued to educate herself on Colonials’ dollar until she recieved a Doctorate all the while receiving pay increases for each degree, never leaving Kindergarten. I congratulate her on her continuing education because not everyone takes advantage of what companies offer. What I find offensive is the amount of money she was paid to teach Kindergarten when no other Kindergarten teacher recieves that salary. If you have a doctorate, you should do something with it or keep receiving a reasonable salary. What’s worse is the money they are wasting on higher-ups salaries it’s the children who suffer.
If a school has Executives & Directors & Principals making $100k, then I expect the teacher’s to be well compensated and the student’s to have all the technologies available today. Sadly, this is not the trend within schools or corporations not only in Delaware but within the United States.
Our children deserve better.
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