Here Comes The Jaques State Takeover Legislation! Legislators Need To Read This! You’ve Been Warned!

State Rep. Earl Jaques is actually going to do it.  According to Delaware Public Media, Jaques actually went on the record with it yesterday.

State Rep. Earl Jaques (D-Newark) said he’s preparing legislation that would allow the state to intervene more with low performing schools.

I called it last March when Jaques used his position as Chair of the District Consolidation Task Force to plant the seed for his upcoming legislation.  He said it was a committee “recommendation” but no one on that committee had the first clue what he was talking about.  Ever since, the drum beats of Jaques “I hate local authority” bill have been getting louder.

Christina School District board member John Young said the Arkansas law looks similar to Delaware’s own accountability regulation, but it allows that state to remove school board members and makes it easier to dismiss teachers and other staff.

We need about 1,000,000 more John Youngs in Delaware to rally against Jaques’ legislation.  I have to imagine DSEA will be against it.  Any teacher in this state should and must oppose it.

Any legislator who so much as signs on as a sponsor or co-sponsor will IMMEDIATELY be on this blog’s all-time shit list.  Any legislator who tries to put a soft amendment to the bill will be on that list.  Any legislator who votes to let it out of committee, for ANY reason, will be on that list.  So basically, any legislator who even attempts to get this to the floor for a vote will be forever ostracized and criticized on here.  Should it make it to the floor, anyone who votes yes for the bill will be forever scrutinized for all days they hold office.  This is NOT an empty threat.  Heed my words wisely.  Any legislator who thinks the Delaware Department of Education is able to do this and believes local authority is a waste SHOULD NOT BE IN OFFICE.  I don’t care if I’m friends with you.  If you vote in a positive way for this bill to move forward I don’t want to be friends with you and you will NEVER get my support for anything ever again.  It is that simple.  This includes the two State Senators who attended the Christina Education Association meeting not too long ago.  You know who you are.  There is no compromise or quarter for a bill like this.  No soft approach.  It is a kill public education and local authority bill and it shouldn’t even be up for discussion.  Period.

The major flaw with this legislation is anything with the words “state takeover”.  Beyond that, it is simple: the measure for success is the horribly flawed state assessment, the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  But even if they switch to another test, anyone with a brain knows they are socio-economic indicators more than a test of actual academic performance.  They are computer adaptive, so not every student is taking the same test.  In addition, students from low-income status, with special education, and English Language learner needs consistently rate lower than their peers.  Minorities tend to do worse as well based on the cultural leaning towards white students on the questions.

Jaques can say he isn’t targeting the Christina School District but he is full of crap.  He has made no secret about wanting to sell one of their high schools to New Castle County Vo-Tech and he, along with Senator David Sokola, have such an immense hard-on for Newark Charter School they can’t button their pants.  It was Sokola who openly said in a Senate Education Committee that Christina should sell some of their buildings to Newark Charter School.

Tomorrow, December 13th, is the day we will see the first bills for the 150th General Assembly.  If Jaques’ bill is in there, expect a pounding on him like you have NEVER seen before on this blog.  If you thought I was fierce about the opt out bill, you haven’t seen anything yet!  Delaware legislators: You have less than a day to take your name off this bill.  If your name is on there expect me to beat the shit out of you publicly until the last day you hold public office.

Last month, I gave public comment at the Capital School District board meeting urging their board to oppose this bill before it even comes out of the gate.  Should this bill come out, every Delaware citizen who believes in education should immediately do the same.  This goes against every fiber of my being and it should for anyone who cares about kids as well.