Delaware’s former Governor Jack Markell was infamous for touting the Smarter Balanced Assessment as “the best test Delaware ever made”. His very dangerous creation was a high-stakes test designed to test, label, and punish schools in Delaware with “low-performing” students. But Markell was very used to high-stakes games. In fact, nine months before he became…
Originally posted on The Season Of Myths:
Dear Superintendents and Heads of School of Delaware, As you have no doubt heard, there is a movement afoot in Delaware whereby parents of students are opting their children out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Some of you have already taken a stand for or against parent opt…
Tonight, Delaware Governor John Carney will attend a Christina Board of Education Study Session. When was the last time a sitting Governor went to a Board of Education meeting, much less a workshop? That is because Carney has big plans for Christina. Very big plans. But don’t fool yourself for one second into thinking any…
Dan Cruce (D), long rumored to be in the running for the 4th Senate District seat currently held by Greg Lavelle (R), announced his candidacy this week with some rather surprising comments regarding the much-maligned Race to the Top program. As the Deputy Secretary of Education under then Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery, Cruce was…
Former Delaware Governor Jack Markell wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times this week called “Let’s Stop Government Giveaways To Corporations”. In it, he urged states not to get sucked into giving away the farm for huge corporations. Something, even Markell noted, he did himself during his tenure as Delaware Governor from 2009-2017. …
Diane Ravitch just wrote about Georgia’s Governor Nathan Deal’s veto of opt-out legislation that passed the Georgia General Assembly. This immediately reminded me of Delaware Governor Jack Markell’s horrible veto of House Bill 50 in the summer of 2015. Say, State Rep. Earl Jaques, why the hell hasn’t the new opt out legislation, House Bill…
Former Delaware Governor Jack Markell was supposed to go biking into the sunset. That was an honorable move on his part. But in the past week, Markell has been on a tear in the education world. If he isn’t joining the board of Graham holdings with their very huge education ties, he is pimping for…
According to an article from Cris Barrish over at Newsworks, former Delaware Governor Jack Markell is going on a journey across America! Markell is going on a bike ride across the USA in an effort to raise funds for a charity. Markell has no official role with Motivate the First State Group, but by riding…
Well, that didn’t take long. It turns out former Delaware Governor Jack Markell is under investigation. I can’t say I’m surprised given some of his questionable activities concerning education during his term as Delaware Governor of the First State. It’s like I’ve always said, Delaware is the first to sign the constitution but the last…
In less than 20 hours, Delaware’s new Governor will be sworn in. Jack Markell’s eight-year term as the Governor of Delaware will end. I’ve seen reviews of his term all over Delaware and social media in the past week or so. I believe it is no secret that I view his education initiatives as an…
The Delaware World Language Immersion program is in many of our school districts. Students in Kindergarten start learning Spanish and Chinese (Mandarin) and continue through school learning one of the languages. Spanish I can understand. Chinese? I know China is a major world power, but come on! Okay, this is old news. But what happened…
A man from Warwick, MD was arrested yesterday based on a Facebook death threat he made against Delaware Governor Jack Markell and a female from Middletown, DE. Roger Matthews was charged with Threatening the Life of a Public Official according to the Delaware State Police Newsroom. The specific threat has not been released. I was…
At some point later this evening, Delaware will have a newly elected Governor. No matter who it is, they can’t be worse than Governor Jack Markell. I truly hope I don’t eat those words, but I can’t think of any Delaware politician who has sold out Delaware children to corporations more than Jack. Well, there…
All Delaware state employees, including public school ones, are “strongly encouraged” to take an online class on “Being A Wise Health Care Consumer”. I have to wonder how the data on this is being tracked! But seriously, health care costs are completely out of control. For my own job, a good chunk of my paycheck…
In a deal that can only be seen as very controversial, the News Journal has a huge article in their paper today on the less than promised job giver. The heart of the article deals with how Bloom Energy was supposed to create 900 jobs for Delaware but instead only created 277. But there is…
This guy has a lot of nerve. Jack Markell operates a shadow state government through his friends at Rodel and the Delaware Business Roundtable and he has the unmitigated gall to tell people we need to embrace change? Yesterday he spoke before a Rotary Club in Lewes, DE to talk about the Pathways to Prosperity program he…
I have no doubt they are working together. But the sad part is no one else seems to be invited to the party… Delaware Governor Jack Markell created a Delaware Pathways To Prosperity Steering Committee on August 11th of this year. On Friday, October 7th, the steering committee convened with no notice to the public. …
Yesterday, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed House Bill 399, a teacher evaluation bill that began its journey with great intentions and wound up a victim to horrible amendments put on the bill by Senator David Sokola. There was no announcement of the bill signing to the press. It was not on the Governor’s public schedule …
Autism advocates fought for this bill. Now, after a long summer, Delaware Governor Jack Markell will finally sign Senate Bill 93 at Autism Delaware, 924 Old Harmony Rd., Ste. 201 on Wednesday at 9am. An act to amend Title 16 of the Delaware Code related to creating an interagency committee on Autism and the Delaware Network…
Exceptional Delaware got the scoop of the year! Delaware Governor Jack Markell sent an audition tape to presidential nominee Hillary Clinton today. He highlighted what he has done for education and what Delaware is doing to further students into his corporatist agendas. There is a lot of talk about investment, technology, and support for students. …
The Season Of Myths 