As per the Delaware Department of Education website, the DOE employs 241 people. 66 of them make over $100,000 based on a Freedom of Information Act request I submitted to them on February 28th. This is eight more than what the News Journal reported four years ago. At that time, the DOE had extra employees as part of their limited Race To The Top federal grant.
Delaware Governor John Carney selected Indian River Superintendent Dr. Susan Bunting as his Secretary of Education last year. Since then, Bunting has committed herself to rebranding the Delaware DOE as a support organization. The DOE gained a very bad reputation during the Mark Murphy years as educators across the state bashed for their mandates, punitive educator evaluations, and other programs from the horrible Race to the Top initiative.
There are six main teams at the Delaware Department of Education: the Secretary of Education Office, the Deputy Secretary of Education Office which includes Performance Support, Student Support, Operations Support, Educator Support, and Student Support. Branching out of those six teams are several Working Groups. They are as follows:
Academic Support: Assessment, Career & Technical Education STEM Initiatives, Delaware Center for Educational Technology, Delaware Higher Education Office, Exceptional Children Resources, Language Acquisition
Educator Support: Educator Effectiveness, Investigation Unit, Licensure & Certification
Operations Support: Charter School Office, Finance Office, Technology Operations
Performance Support: Data Management & Governance, Human Resources Office, Performance Management
Student Support: Adult & Prison Education Resources, Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA), School Operations, School Support Services, Title Programs & Grant Support
Secretary of Education Office: Deputy Attorney General, Office of Early Learning, Office of Innovation & Improvement, Professional Standards Board, State Board of Education
The Delaware DOE has two main buildings. The main office is at the John G. Townsend Building in Dover. The other one is the Collette Education Resource Center, also in Dover.
Each fall, the DOE plans their next fiscal year budget and presents it to the Office of Management and Budget. Based on those plans, the Governor implements that into his proposed state budget which usually comes out in January. The Joint Finance Committee in the General Assembly holds hearings from state agencies and determines the budget the General Assembly votes on by June 30th of each year.
Also involved in Delaware Education is the Governor, currently John Carney. He has an Education Policy Advisor named Jon Sheehan. He is the go-between who delivers the Governor’s planned initiatives for education. As well, Secretary Bunting is a members of the Governor’s Cabinet.
The State Board of Education is independent of the Delaware Department of Education. The members, nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Delaware Senate, include President Dennis Loftus, Vice President Nina Lou Bunting (term expires 2021), Barbara Rutt (2018), Liane Sorenson (2023), Terry Whittaker (2020), Wali Rushdan (2024), and Audrey Noble (2021). The President has no expiration date and serves at the pleasure of the Governor. The State Board of Education’s Executive Director is Donna Johnson. Aside from very small stipends for transportation and compensation for State Board meetings, the board members are not compensated. The State Board holds their monthly meetings in the Townsend Building. Their main functions are approval of certain regulations involving schools and educators, hearing appeals from local school districts, or charters, deciding on charter school matters such as new applications, formal reviews, and modifications, and hearing presentation on various DOE, district, charter school, or outside education organization initiatives.
Delaware Department Of Education:
66 Over $100k
Lisa Alexander, Education Associate- Student Assessment Data, $109,688
Amy Baker-Sheridan, Education Associate- Academic Support, $105,162
Theresa Bennett, Director, Office of Assessment, $116,470
Meaghan Brennan, Education Associate- Financial Reporting & Contracting, $105,669
Cindy Brown, Education Associate- Part B 619 Coordinator, $101,414
Susan Bunting, Secretary of Education, $163,055 (four years ago she made $165,855 as the Superintendent of Indian River School District)
John Carwell, Education Associate- Charter School Office, $101,641
Emily Cunningham, Chief of Staff/Policy Advisor, $100,296
Helen Dennis, Education Associate- Pupil Accounting, $107,065
Mark Dooling, Education Associate- Education Insight Data Warehouse Developer, $100,851
Corey Downer, Education Associate- Technology & Data Resources, $103,415
Melvin D’Souza, Education Associate- Vocational Support & Data Analysis, $109,698
Peggy Enslen, Education Associate-Health Sciences, $101,381
Katia Foret, Education Associate- Math K-8 Assessment and DeSSA Systems, $107,000
Gergory Fulkerson, Director, Language Acquisition, $112,385
Eulinda Gallagher, Director, Title Programs & Grant Support, $112,879
Dorrell Green, Director, Office of Innovation and Improvement, $135,105 (four years ago he made $148,416 as the Assistant Superintendent of Brandywine School District)
Robert Grey, Education Associate- Educator Preparation & Quality, $109,891
Michael Grossman, Education Associate- Adult & Prison Education, $112,385
Susan Haberstroh, Director, School Support Services, $119,595 (four years ago she made $133,867)
Jeanette Hammon, Education Associate- Human Resource Officer, $105,669
Debora Hansen, Education Associate- Visual & Performing Arts, Charter Curriculum Review, $105,669
Duane Hill, Director, Technology Resources & Data Development, $112,879
Shannon Holston, Education Associate- Educator Preparation, $110,180
Rita Hovermale, Education Associate, Family & Consumer Sciences, $114,880
John Hulse, Education Associate- 21st Century & Title I Programs, $109,688
Chantel Janiszewski, Education Associate- Accountability & Performance Management, $104,756
Leah Jenkins, Education Associate- District (State) Funds, $105,669
Patricia Keeton, Education Associate- Private Business, Trade Schools & Veterans Affairs Programs, $107,279
Kathy Kelly, Education Associate- Elementary Language Arts/Literacy & eLearning, $102,415
Kimberly Krzanowski, Executive Director, Office of Early Learning, $114,275
Christopher Lehman, Education Associate- Office of School Supports, $104,938
Dale Matusevich, Education Associate- Transition Services, $100,563
Barbara Mazza, Education Associate- General Supervision IDEA, $101,178
April McRae, Education Associate- Science Assessment & STEM, $104,459
Tonyea Mead, Education Associate- Science, $103,064
Mary Ann Mieczkowski, Director- Exceptional Children Resources, $114,275 (four years ago she made $115,218)
Wendy Modzelewski, Education Associate- Educator Licensure & Certification, $112,385
Alyssa Moore, Education Associate- Digital Learning, $112,385
Brian Moore, Education Associate- School Climate & Discipline, $102,970
John Moyer III, Education Associate- Science, $111,028
Jonathan (Jon) Neubauer, Associate Secretary, Educator Support, $105,669
Thomas Neubauer, Executive Director, Interscholastic Athletics, $105,443
Tracy Neugebauer, Education Associate- IDEA Implementation, $105,443
Eric Niebrzydowski, Deputy Officer, Special Projects, $105,669
DeAnne Oakley-Wimbish, Education Associate- Office of Innovation & Improvement, $107,560
Melissa Oates, Education Associate- Educator Evaluation, $105,789
Shana Payne, Director, Delaware Higher Education Office, $111,515
Adrian Peoples, Education Associate- Education Research, $108,891
Fran Purnell, Education Associate- NAEP, $111,096
Luke Rhine, Director, Career & Technical Education STEM, $106,152
Michael Rodriguez, Associate Secretary, Student Support, $135,105
Karen Field Rogers, Deputy Secretary, Performance Support, Operations Support, $133,566 (four years ago she made $125,844)
Shelley Rouser, Director, K-12 Initiatives & Educator Engagement, $119,595 (four years ago she made $117,261)
Preston Shockley, Education Associate- Social Studies Assessment & Test Security, $107,986
Linda Smith, Education Associate- Unique Alternatives & Instructional Behavioral Support, $105,106
Lisa Stoner, Education Associate- Policy Advisor, $105,669
Denise Stouffer, Education Associate- Charter School Office, $103,116
Debra Stover, Education Associate- Reporting, $102,970
Xinyu Tan, Education Associate- Data Management, $107,000
Evalyn (Lydia) Tucker, Education Associate, Career & Technical Education Workgroup, $100,048
Susan Vohrer, Education Associate- Elementary & Middle Level Mathematics, $111,762
Michael Wagner, Education Associate- Non-Public Driver Education, $102,273
Kimberly Wheatley, Director, Finance Office, $112,879
Mary Whelan, Director, Adult Education, $114,275 (four years ago she made $112,018)
Lisa Wilson, Education Associate- Business, Finance & Marketing, $108,648
The following are former key DOE folks who I wrote a lot about over the last four years.
Mark Murphy: $160,144 (former Secretary of Education, now with America Achieves leading the “Griptape” Initiative)
Christopher Ruszkowski: $133,867 (former Teacher/Leader Effectiveness Unit Chief, now Secretary of Education in New Mexico)
Keith Sanders: $133,837 (former Accountability Director)
David Blowman: $131,093 (former Deputy Secretary of Education, now at Delaware Community Foundation)
Angeline Rivello: $110,644 (former Educator Support Director, left DOE earlier this year)
Michael Watson: $103,464 (former Student Support Director, left DOE earlier this year)
Some other key personnel who are now longer at the Delaware DOE but were hired after the News Journal state salary article in 2014 include Penny Schwinn (Accountability Chief, face behind the Priority Schools), Jennifer Nagourney (Charter School Office Director during the charter financial scandal years), former Secretary of Education Dr. Steven Godowsky (replaced Murphy), Ryan Reyna (Penny’s right-hand man), and Atnre Alleyne (Ruszkowski’s right-hand man). Godowsky retired shortly after Carney picked Bunting as his replacement. Alleyne is still present in Delaware education as the Director of DelawareCAN, a non-profit company. The rest all moved to other states.
As I write about education in Delaware, the DOE is a central part of that. I have not been as hard on them since Bunting took over. I believe they have come a long way and are trying to support more than mandate. Bunting has successfully reorganized the Department and brought in new people to lead them. Much of the DOE’s bad reputation was due to personnel who are no longer there. I would put implementation of Delaware’s state plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act as Bunting’s largest task since she took office. Regulation 225 has put her in some very uncomfortable waters recently. She has yet to make a decision or issue guidance on where the controversial regulation is going.
Updated, 3/19/18, 10:11am: I mistakenly reported the number of Delaware Department of Education employees as 181. I based this on the number of staff appearing on the website. I was informed by the DOE Public Information Officer the DOE employs 241 people. This article has been updated to reflect that.
The Season Of Myths 