Just wanted to write a quick post to my followers and readers to wish you a very Merry Christmas. If you celebrate something else, enjoy that day as well! Not sure what 2020 will bring in life and on this blog but I can only hope things change for the better.
Enjoy your family and friends and share the love with everyone you see. This should be all year long but I will settle for the reason for the season.
Sorry I don’t have a crazy Christmas story this year. I’ll try to double up next year!
This will be the 5th Christmas season I’ve posted on here. I thought I would put up ALL the links to the crazy Christmas posts I’ve put up. Some are from the heart and some are from left field. Enjoy!
This year I plan to start a crazy adventure beginning today with 25 days of Christmas madness!
A Christmas Poem For Governor Markell, Warning Signs All Over! 12/1/2014
The Christmas Legend Of Jack & Paul: The Birth Of Common Core & Race To The Top 12/17/2014
The Exceptional Delaware Top 25 Christmas Songs Of All-Time 12/20/2014
Christmas Gifts For The Enemies Of Public Education Part 1 & A For-Real Contest! 12/21/2014
More Christmas Gifts For The Enemies Of Public Education Part 2 12/21/2014
How To Get Through The Holidays When Those You Love Are Gone 12/22/2014
Part 3 Of Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education 12/23/2014
Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education: The Publius Edition 12/24/2014
The Murphy’s Law Of Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education 12/24/2014
Merry Christmas To The All The Heroes Of Delaware Public Education! You Know Who You Are! 12/24/2014
Breaking News: Santa Claus Supports Opt-Out! 12/4/2015
What If Santa Claus And Governor Markell Had A Fight? Who Would Win? 12/15/2015
The Other Christmas Gift 12/18/2015
The Arne Grinch Who Stole Christmas And Promised To Punish School-ville 12/23/2015
Merry Christmas To The Heroes Of Education & My Christmas Wish For The Delaware General Assembly 12/25/2015
The Sound Of Angels 5/7/2016 (Not really a Christmas related story but perfect for that holiday spirit!)
Santa And John 12/1/2016
Secret Santa Does A Wonderful Thing For Stubbs Elementary School In Wilmington, DE 12/9/2016
A Christmas Poem For Governor Markell, Warning Signs All Over! 12/1/2014
The Christmas Legend Of Jack & Paul: The Birth Of Common Core & Race To The Top 12/17/2014
The Exceptional Delaware Top 25 Christmas Songs Of All-Time 12/20/2014
Christmas Gifts For The Enemies Of Public Education Part 1 & A For-Real Contest! 12/21/2014
More Christmas Gifts For The Enemies Of Public Education Part 2 12/21/2014
How To Get Through The Holidays When Those You Love Are Gone 12/22/2014
Part 3 Of Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education 12/23/2014
Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education: The Publius Edition 12/24/2014
The Murphy’s Law Of Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education 12/24/2014
Merry Christmas To The All The Heroes Of Delaware Public Education! You Know Who You Are! 12/24/2014
Breaking News: Santa Claus Supports Opt-Out! 12/4/2015
What If Santa Claus And Governor Markell Had A Fight? Who Would Win? 12/15/2015
The Other Christmas Gift 12/18/2015
The Arne Grinch Who Stole Christmas And Promised To Punish School-ville 12/23/2015
Merry Christmas To The Heroes Of Education & My Christmas Wish For The Delaware General Assembly 12/25/2015
The Sound Of Angels 5/7/2016 (Not really a Christmas related story but perfect for that holiday spirit!)
Santa And John 12/1/2016
Secret Santa Does A Wonderful Thing For Stubbs Elementary School In Wilmington, DE 12/9/2016
Christmas Shuffle 12/20/17
Woodburn Christmas Conspiracy 12/24/17
Christmas Day greeting 12/25/17
The Four Coins 12/25/17
Once upon a time, in the not-so-magical land of Dover, a meeting took place. It was one of those back-door meetings that the ruler of the state liked to convene. These were not public meetings in the sense that anyone could attend. They were usually those of the secret sort where only a select few were invited to attend. But because the Governor was attending, he felt obligated to report it on his public schedule. He did this sometimes in an effort to show an illusion of transparency.
In attendance were Governor Carney, Senator David Sokola, State Rep. Earl Jaques, Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting, Dr. Paul Herdman from Rodel, and Betsy DeVos, the United States Secretary of Education.
It was Christmas Eve and all through the Woodburn the stockings were hung near the space heater with care. Carney put on his favorite Christmas album on his new record player. He loved the songs from his youth and they were all included on “Rudolph and Friends”. The eggnog was passed around to the attendees. Little did they know two others were also in attendance… of a sort.
Over the past few years, I’ve made it a point to write an original Christmas story on here each holiday season. Some have been completely satirical while last year’s was a bit more serious. They usually star the Governor of Delaware at that time. Sometimes they even have Santa Claus as a main character! I thought I would put all of them together in one place. Next year I’ll do the same thing with this year’s stuff. This year’s story is coming! Just trying to find the right time and ideas to come together! Heck, in the spirit of Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate), let’s put all the festive stuff here!
A note to newer readers who haven’t been here since the beginning. Back in 2014, in the first six months or so of this blog, I picked up an idea from Kilroy’s Delaware to add Twitter hashtags to each title. I didn’t realize this was highly annoying to many readers until someone pointed it out to me. I’ve cleaned up some of those old stories and removed those hashtags, but I saw doing this a lot of the Christmas themed articles still have them. My apologies! Last year I took a long overdue vacation from the blog so only a couple of articles saw the light.
A Christmas Poem For Governor Markell, Warning Signs All Over! 12/1/2014
The Christmas Legend Of Jack & Paul: The Birth Of Common Core & Race To The Top 12/17/2014
The Exceptional Delaware Top 25 Christmas Songs Of All-Time 12/20/2014
Christmas Gifts For The Enemies Of Public Education Part 1 & A For-Real Contest! 12/21/2014
More Christmas Gifts For The Enemies Of Public Education Part 2 12/21/2014
How To Get Through The Holidays When Those You Love Are Gone 12/22/2014
Part 3 Of Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education 12/23/2014
Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education: The Publius Edition 12/24/2014
The Murphy’s Law Of Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education 12/24/2014
Merry Christmas To The All The Heroes Of Delaware Public Education! You Know Who You Are! 12/24/2014
Breaking News: Santa Claus Supports Opt-Out! 12/4/2015
What If Santa Claus And Governor Markell Had A Fight? Who Would Win? 12/15/2015
The Other Christmas Gift 12/18/2015
The Arne Grinch Who Stole Christmas And Promised To Punish School-ville 12/23/2015
Merry Christmas To The Heroes Of Education & My Christmas Wish For The Delaware General Assembly 12/25/2015
The Sound Of Angels 5/7/2016 (Not really a Christmas related story but perfect for that holiday spirit!)
Santa And John 12/1/2016
Secret Santa Does A Wonderful Thing For Stubbs Elementary School In Wilmington, DE 12/9/2016
If you liked the Jack and Paul Common Core birth story, I did write a sequel a year and a half later but it is not holiday themed:
The Delaware Education Posse Rides Again 5/15/2016
Last year, I started a tradition of honoring the heroes of public education on Christmas. This year the list is much longer. I finally met many of you this year, and I made new friends along the way. The battles were tougher than ever, but we all came out of it relatively unscathed. Some of our battles were won, but the war for public education continues. 2016 is going to be a very tough year as we are in the middle of major transitions between ESEA and ESSA. The US DOE is trying to get some hits in before it kicks in, but we aren’t taking it lying down. We will fight these changes!
Without further ado, thank you to all the below for listening to my rants, hearing my pleas, and taking action on your own. I am nothing without any of you, and I want you all to know I appreciate you very much. Some of us had our moments but we were able to reach out and work out our differences. Some of you might be wondering why you are even on this list. It could have been something as simple as a kind gesture, support, or you took the time to listen even if you didn’t agree with everything I had to say. On these lists are parents, teachers, reporters, bloggers, legislators and more. There are very left liberals on here and die-hard conservatives. But all of you, in one way or another, contributed to this blog in some way. And I thank you! There are many who I am unable to list on here due to requests for anonymity. They know who they are, and I think it is very brave for anyone to stick their neck out to help students. And then the silent voices. The ones who reached out to me in a request for help. For many of you I don’t know if I helped or not. I hope I did, in some way. Some of you I never heard back from and I pray that everything worked out. The below Delawareans are my 2015 Delaware Heroes of Education.
Matthew Albright Tony Allen Tyler Anaya Faith Andrews Austin Auen Dee August Meg Eldred Barcus Adriana Bohm Giffin Bowen Sue Breakie Suzanne Burton Eve Buckley Catherine Ciferni Jennifer Cinnelli Larae Coley William Cortes Sammi Dahms Matt Denn Nelia Dolan Bill Doolittle Lyn Doto Diane Eastburn Marie Evans Steve Fackenthall Tim Furlong Natalie Ganc Jodi LeVan Gennusa Lori Gloede Tara Greathouse Elizabeth Greenwell Karen Gritton Eric Gustafson Alan Harris Christine Hermes Annemarie Hobson Terri Hodges CEO Hope Laurie Howard Devon Hynson Rick Jensen Wendy Johnson Yvonne Johnson Scott Jones Kavips Maureen Keeney Mike Kempski Amanda Kilby Kilroy Jackie Kook John Kowalko III Pam Levin Matt Lindell Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman Mary Jane Long Christy Mannering Mike Matthews Deborah McCann Floyd McDowell Connie Merlet Harrie Ellen Minnehan Laura Nash Sabine Neal Mike Oboryshko Jen O’Brien Liz Paige Pandora David Paulk Lisa Radke Kenny Rivera Danny Rufo Ashley Sabo Kay Dietz-Sass Elizabeth Scheinberg Jill Schilling Nate Schwartz Anne Willing Solan Mel Spotts Melissa Stansell Brian Stephan Ralph Taylor Liz Toney Jenny Twardowski Meghan Wallace Nancy Willing Jeanette Wilt Avi Wolfman-Arent Dave Woodside John Young
And there are some “out-of-staters” I want to honor as well:
Debby Herbage Stacey Kahn Melissa Katz Cheri Kiesecker Marla Kilfoyle Donna Yates Mace Roxana Mariachi Ken Previti Diane Ravitch Priscilla Sanstead Teri Sasseville Mercedes Schneider Valerie Strauss Emily Talmadge Nicholas Tapio Publius Withering
I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t publicly thank all those who voted yes on House Bill 50 during its final votes in the Delaware General Assembly. I know some of you struggled with your vote, and I want you to know how much I appreciate your honoring parents and their rights. I am counting on your support again for the veto override when you come back!
From the House of Representatives: Paul Baumbach, Andria Viola Bennett, Gerald Brady, Ruth Briggs King, William Carson, Richard Collins, Kevin Hensley, Deb Hudson, James Johnson, Helene Keeley, Harvey Kenton, John Kowalko, Valerie Longhurst, Sean Lynn, Sean Matthews, Joe Miro, John Mitchell, Michael Mulrooney, Ed Osienski, Bobby Outten, Trey Paradee, Charles Potter, Mike Ramone, Pete Schwartzkopf, Bryon Short, Daniel Short, Melanie Smith, Stephen Smyk, Jeff Spiegelman, Kim Williams, David Wilson, and Lyndon Yearick
From the Senate: Patti Blevins, Colin Bonini, Catherine Cloutier, Bruce Ennis, Bethany Hall-Long, Gerald Hocker, Dave Lawson, Ernie Lopez, Robert Marshall, David McBride, Karen Peterson, Brian Pettyjohn, Nicole Poore, Bryant Richardson, and Bryan Townsend
For those who voted no, I invite you to search your hearts and ask yourself why you voted no. If it was for any reason other than honoring a parents right to determine what is right for their child, I urge you to think about it. I know, for some of you, it has become a matter of honoring the Governor’s office or honoring parents. The parents will be here long after Jack leaves office and they have a long memory. I implore you to remember why you ran for office to begin with. I expect most of you, if not all, wanted to make a difference for the people of Delaware. I understand power. I understand favor. I understand compromise. But what I cannot understand is not honoring your constituents. Some of you have been duped by the Governor, the DOE, or lobbyists into believing all the wrong reasons. While the state is looking at reducing the amount of assessments our children get, this bill has always been about the Smarter Balanced Assessment or any high-stakes test that comes along. You saw the scores. I hope many of you have seen the very unrealistic “growth” targets the DOE set for the next six years. I ask you to think about the damage this does to students and schools.
Yes, there are very real consequences now for opt-out. Funding cuts, as dictated by the US DOE, could very well happen. But I belong to groups in just about every state in this country on Facebook. I wrote articles about these threats made by the US DOE and posted them on all of those Facebook groups. Not one parent said they will not opt their child out this Spring because of these threats. They are more determined than ever to opt their child out of the state assessment this year. Across the country, including Delaware. In fact, many are already planning a defense against this unethical and immoral “guidance” by the US DOE. An argument has already been presented that federal funding cuts that hit schools with high opt-out numbers could result in students with disabilities not receiving what is known as FAPE, a Free and Appropriate Public Education. If the feds cut money, schools will suffer, resulting in a loss of services for those students. FAPE is covered under the Federal IDEA law. These are potential lawsuits, even class action, that would be taken against the US DOE. As well, parents of minority or low-income students have already begun talking about civil rights violations should federal funding cuts occur. Those in favor of these high-stakes tests will tell you opt-out will result in civil rights being violated against these children with needs we can’t imagine. They are wrong. It doesn’t matter if a parent is insanely rich or poor, it is still their right. Parents know what is best for their child, and these tests are not what is best.
There was one State Representative I did want to name who didn’t vote for House Bill 50 either time it hit the House floor. I saw your emotional struggle with this bill Stephanie Bolden, and I greatly appreciate what you said and respect you for it. Your passion for the students of Wilmington is very honorable.
I got to know many legislators this year. Some of you I count as friends. There are a couple of you I have written much about, and I wasn’t very nice about it at times. For the two of you, I would strongly ask yourself “Who do I serve”? I will leave it at that. Please don’t take this personally, but I still believe in both of you, despite our many differences earlier this year. But you are on the wrong side of the issue here and everyone knows it.
There are some of you at Legislative Hall, I really don’t know what I would do without you. I don’t see you as “Democrat” or “Republican”. I see you as people, wanting to do what is right for the students of Delaware. You see way beyond what others see and you vote with your heart. Some of you create legislation that hits just the right note that will result in positive change for education. I know you know who you are, and I thank you immensely for what you do. It makes me very concerned when these bills either sit there or don’t pass. Every legislation in that building deserves the right to be heard.
For all you, I want to wish a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah (belatedly), Happy Kwanza or whatever you choose to call this time of year. As well, Happy New Year to all of you. 2016 will be anything but dull!
When I published Santa’s proclamation supporting opt-out of standardized testing, it took off like a rocket! Santa Claus was very happy so many people read his press release, he asked me to publish it again tonight while he is out making all is deliveries to the children of Earth. Santa was not happy the US DOE put out all those bad letters in the past couple months. He is very disappointed in our education leaders. He may have Dasher and Prancer do some of their covert operations during the off season… But without further ado, here is the original story of how Santa Claus came to support opt-out.
Santa Claus was getting pictures at the Dover Mall with young children. He always asks the kids what they want for Christmas. He acknowledged hearing very strange requests over the years. But he reported to me recently about a very unusual request he got on Black Friday. A little boy who was 8 years old told Santa he only wanted one thing for Christmas. He wanted his mother to opt him out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.
Santa had never heard of such an odd thing before, so he asked the boy what it was. “I’m in 3rd grade Santa, and all they talk about is some test we have to take next Spring. All my teachers talk about it. And we have to take something called an intrum test after we come back from Christmas break. Every day teachers say ‘this could be on the test. Make sure you know it.’ I’m getting tired of it Santa. Nobody cares about my actual grades, and I’m a smart kid Santa.”
Santa asked the boy what “opting out” means? The boy said some parents actually told the school they didn’t want their kid taking the Smarter Balanced test. The school gave them a rough time, but the parents fought back. “If they can do it, can you make sure my mom does it too?” Santa pondered this for a moment. “I think,” Santa said, “That would be up to your Mom.” “Good, she is right over there,” the boy said and pointed to his mother. “Mom, can you come over here? Santa wants to ask you something!” the boy shouted.
The boy’s mother walked over and Santa said “Your son wants you to opt him out of the Smarter something test. It’s all he wants for Christmas.” The boy’s mother explained she had never heard of the test. “That’s cause this is the first year we take it Mom. I heard some teachers say it doesn’t actually mean anything and it only lets the state know how we are doing. And I heard something about some evil Psycho Metric guy.” The boy’s mother explained, “I will have to look into this.” The boy shouted “But I want you to opt me out!” The crowd heard the words “opt-out” and all of a sudden, parents were yelling “Opt him out! Opt him out!” Santa explained how he had to get to the next kid as the line to visit him was getting longer. “Let me make some calls on this! Can I call your mom about this when I get more information?” The boy’s mother gave Santa their phone number.
After a very long three days, Santa Claus dove into the subject of opt-out. He ran across this blog, so he gave me a call. I explained to Santa Claus how opt-out works and that it is a parental right. He asked me why schools fight it and want the kids to take a test that is bad for them. I told Santa that the schools get threats and they are intimidated by the Delaware Department of Education. I told him about House Bill 50, how some of the legislators like Jaques and Sokola tried to block it, how it passed the Delaware House and Senate, but then Governor Markell vetoed it. But I also explained how the House and Senate might override his veto when they come back to make laws. Santa laughed. “It sounds like someone should be called Senator So-coal-a!” I explained to Santa how kids did worse on this test than the one that came before it and all the nasty tricks the DOE was trying to come out with because of the test. Santa got very upset about the DOE and Secretary Godowsky blowing off the Accountability Framework Working Group’s recommendations about no harsh opt-out penalties for schools. “Sounds to me like this Secretary and these DOE people want schools to be punished for a parent’s decision. That isn’t honorable. I might have to order some more coal this year…”
Santa’s cheeks got very red as he became more flustered about the Smarter Balanced Assessment. “This just isn’t right! Now I am understanding why so many kids have looked different and sad the past few years. I thought this Common Core stuff would go away when they talked about all that nonsense with kids needing to compete with the kids in China. I go there every year, and most of those kids don’t even take those tests!” I told Santa how they got rid of that reason, and now it is so kids can be college and career ready! Santa laughed so hard I could hear his belly jiggling over the phone. “How in the world can a kid in 3rd grade, or even 8th grade be ‘college and career ready’? Kids need to play and have fun. School is important, don’t get me wrong, but there is so much other stuff that makes them grow up.”
Santa called the boy’s mother last night and had a long talk with her. She agreed that opting out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment is the best choice for her son. That night, she wrote a letter to her son’s school opting her son out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment. This morning, she gave it to the principal and kept a copy for herself. She asked the principal to sign a piece of paper recognizing he received the letter. She said I could share it but for the sake of her son’s privacy to take out her name. It said:
Dear Principal,
I am letting you know that I am opting my son out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment that will be administered in 2016. I am requesting my son not be punished for my decision and that he is given instruction while the other children are taking the test. I understand schools have to give the test, but I also know this is a parent’s right and there is no law stating I can’t. I do not wish to have any meetings or calls about this. Please respect my decision.
Sincerely,
The boy’s mom
Santa was very proud of the boy for having the courage to ask for something so simple. It gave him hope that other parents would see the wisdom in the boy and his mother’s decision. Santa doesn’t usually interfere with the workings of the people, but he thought in this case he should issue some type of proclamation about this whole opt-out thing. So he asked me to give the exclusive on his proclamation to which I happily agreed. So without further ado, here is Santa’s official stance on opt-out!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the folks who I’ve met along this crazy blog highway. Especially to the one who got me started on this mess: the man, the myth, the legend and the trailblazer, Kilroy! In my book, you are all heroes for public education in various ways. I’ve talked to or emailed all of you at various times, or commented on your blogs, or read your comments on mine. I may not always agree with all of you 100% of the time, but your hearts are in the right place. You are all the people I would want to see leading education in this state. 2014 sucked for a lot of us, but next year our voice will be heard, and it will be loud!!!!
Without Further Ado, here are the Good Guys & Gals of Public Education:
Kilroy
John Young
Mike Matthews
Jackie Kook
Matt Lindell
Nelia Dolan
Eve Buckley
Elizabeth Paige
Harrie
Melanie Curriden
Kavips
Nancy Willing
Pandora
Kathy Willis
Steve Newton
Liz Toney
Elizabeth Scheinberg
Kim Williams
John Kowalko
Paul Baumbach
Steve Fackenthall
Mike Kempski
Brian Townsend
Mike Ostevich
Danny Rufo
Elizabeth Lockman
Bill Doolittle
and last but not least,
The Delaware Bats
And there are some out-of-state folks I want to give a shout out to: Melissa Katz, Hannah Hurley, Diane Ravitch, Noel Hammatt, Mindy Rosier, Nancy Bailey, Teachezwell, Commoncorediva, Mercedes Schneider, WagTheDog, EduSchyster, and all the members of the Badass Teachers Association!
I look forward to 2015, and hopefully we can all put a stop to the collision course between the DOE and public education. I’ll be there, writing about as much as I can! There are some folks who are on the fence with this stuff, and I hope to include you next year when you finally immerse yourself in what’s going on out there.
Finally, my biggest hero of all, is this guy. He’s everything to me, and I would be nothing without him. He’s had a rough time of it lately, and inside I’m dying. I want to do everything I can for him, but I can’t win all the battles for him. He is fast approaching the age when he will have to take control and do the right things for himself. Mom and Dad won’t always be there to protect him, but we are now, and we will do whatever it takes to do so. He wasn’t given an easy start to school. I can see why things happen the way they do,, and it’s not all about the fight for public education. There are things that go on in schools and I have a feeling this will become a huge topic in 2015 for me. I may have to go against the grain on this blog, but some things need said.
My son Jacob….
As the leader of the Delaware Department of Education, Secretary of Education Mark Murphy sure was a bad boy this year. I would give him coal, but that’s not fair to the piece of coal. Murphy has shunned educators, participated in Governor Jack Markell’s bullying tactics with the priority schools, and taken all the right steps for Vision Takeover Of All Public Schools and Turn Them Into Charter Schools. In 2015, I think three of Murphy’s money-driven strategies will explode, so Murphy gets this:
When three major things go wrong with a product, it’s called a lemon. With Murphy’s version of education, I am predicting now that Common Core-Smarter Balanced, his Teacher Effectiveness witch hunt, and the Priority Schools initiative will all go the way of the dinosaur. When that happens, Murphy is going to need this, a free visit to Career Builder! Maybe he can find a new job like this:
And I really hope when you look back on your time as the destroyer of all that is good in Delaware education, and how you listened more to the folks at Rodel then the people who put your boss in the big chair, that this next thought messes with your mind more than you messed with educators, students and parents. Presenting, the next Delaware Secretary of Education:
First up is a man who is not known outside of the education world in Delaware. But he will have a huge effect on the education landscape starting in March. He is the spearhead of the Smarter Balanced Assessment at the Delaware DOE. He is also a data freak. Brian Touchette, we have found a more effective way for you to play with data.
This is data you can play with anytime you want. It can’t be used to close schools or judge teachers and students. You can play with Data 24 hours a day, all week long. But please, stop using our children as data. They have individual minds.
Next up is our surfer dude at the DOE. As chief of the teacher effectiveness group, Chris Ruszkowski is tasked with finding ways to make teachers less effective by drowning them in professional development and more nefarious ways to make them look bad. His plans didn’t work out too well in 2014 as 99% of teachers in Delaware were effective or better. We know there is a contract bid for an evaluation of the system your group helped to create, but might we suggest something that has worked through the years?
For your Christmas present, we thought you could benefit from a group skydiving gift certificate. The key word here is group, as it takes a collaborative effort with all stakeholders to get results. Demeaning and ridiculing our educators is NOT effective, and the only way you will ever get their respect is through something we like to call teamwork!
For the group that can’t seem to figure out what year their conquest of Delaware schools will happen, we have a simple Christmas gift for you. Like Mr. Touchette above, this is a vision you can play with anytime you like. We just don’t want you sharing your vision with our state moving forward. Your plan reeks with the stench of corporate education reform, and we grow tired of it.
This is Vision. He’s an Avenger. This will be his year, because he will be in the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. The Vision is a soulless android who can become intangible. Kind of like your vision for education in Delaware.
More holiday surprises for those that vex the educators, students and parents of public school districts!
This next one goes to a member of the Delaware State Board of Education. Perhaps the most outspoken member of the board, but because of this, one of the most controversial. The highlight of the year for him was his comments during their April meeting, or what I like to call, Charterpalooza! Since you mentioned the huge charter influx being like anyone coming and applying and opening up a clown school, I thought I would give you your very own!
For the other member of your board, who I won’t out, because he/she uses a different name when he/she comments on my blog, I will give the most favorite thing he/she likes at Christmas. This one’s for you Dee!
The next Christmas present recipient is someone anyone familiar with charter schools in Delaware should know. She comes to state board meetings every single month, and she has a better attendance record at the DOE than some other members of the board. With looks that can kill and a heart of stone (no, really, it’s a stone), she is the one and only (thank God), Kendall Massett!
For the charter school diva of Delaware, I wanted to give her something very special. I challenged her network last summer to discuss special education more. Instead, I got banned from the Delaware Charter Schools Network’s Twitter account. In fact, after my last post about Kendall, I can’t even view their Twitter feed. Obviously, I’m not feeling the love from DCSN! But I won’t give up, so Kendall, this one’s for you!
It’s a handy-dandy guide to something called IDEA. It helps students with disabilities to get special education. I can tell you what is shameful to the spirit of this law, and that is naming your annual awards show after this law. You see, there’s this little thing going on in Delaware regarding segregation and discrimination, against minorities AND special needs students. The ACLU mentioned something about it recently. And since your network is the cheerleader for charters in the state, I think you should change the name of your annual awards show. But in the meantime, enjoy this other present I got for you. I thought of you when I saw it! Not only is it one of my favorite songs from 1990, but the title reminds me of something you wrote in the News Journal recently…
More Christmas giving is coming from Exceptional Delaware! Stay tuned…
“Christmas is a time for giving. Then why do I feel like I’m getting ripped off?” I said these words of wisdom to my parents in my misspent youth. I was mad about my brother getting a drum set for Christmas. I could have cared less about the drums, but he was getting a “big” present, while all I got was smaller things. The times, they are a changin’, and I am definitely in a giving mood this year!
She rode into town like a bat out of hell, and she has yet to prove us wrong of our initial impression. She has insulted and denigrated professionals throughout the six priority schools and the students of Wilmington. Ms. Penny Schwinn, these are our gifts for you this holiday season.
A new bike for you to ride out of town with, but please don’t wait until you are her age.
This is a good book, and it will help you to understand that some things are a necessary hurdle to overcome.
Next on our list is a gentleman who definitely raised some eyebrows this year. We weren’t sure what to get him. We changed our mind about it, and went back and forth, and flipped on our initial decision. Delaware Senator Greg Lavelle, you gave us a lot to think about it this year. Or did you? We can’t make up our mind.
And….
This next one is a contest. This individual gets this very special gift, but my readers have to guess the following: 1) Who it is for, 2) Why they are receiving this very special gift, and 3) Who else was involved. The answers are out there, but you will need to read about things. I won’t say if it’s in the middle, the beginning, or the end. I need the real thing here folks. But for the sleuths in all of us, if you hunt, you will find. But I wouldn’t make you do all this work for nothing. The Grand Prize: the first to look at my FOIA from Governor Markell, which should be arriving very soon. That’s right, you will get to see this before anyone else does. But you have to win the contest first, so here’s the picture:
There will be more gifts for our enemies all of this week. So stay tuned!
I’ve always been a big fan of lists, so I’ve updated my top 25 favorite Christmas songs. It’s pretty much the same as what I posted on Facebook last year, but the Pogues moved up, and Band Aid took the #1 spot again. So without further ado, here’s the list. Let me know if you agree (none of you will), and what you feel should be there and what shouldn’t. And stay tuned for a post I can only call “Christmas Presents For The Enemies Of Public Education In Delaware”. Feel free to leave input on that one as well!
Top Christmas Songs
1. Do They Know It’s Christmas: Band Aid
2. Christmas Lights: Coldplay
3. Christmastime: Smashing Pumpkins
4. Fairytale Of New York: Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
5. Christmas Time: Bryan Adams
6. Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home): U2
7. The Little Drummer Boy: Harry Simeone Chorale
8. Boots: The Killers
9. Merry Christmas Eve: Better Than Ezra
10. Aspenglow: John Denver
11. I Believe In Father Christmas: Emerson, Lake and Palmer
12. Please Come Home For Christmas: The Eagles
13. Some Children See Him: Andy Williams
14. All I Want For Christmas Is You: Olivia Olson
15. Gabriel’s Message: Sting
16. 2000 Miles: Mighty, Mighty Bosstones
17. Feliz Navidad: Jose Feliciano
18. River: Sarah McLachlan
19. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas: The Pretenders
20. I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas: Bon Jovi
21. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer: Elmo and Patsy
22. Carol Of The Bells: The Calling
23. A Christmas To Remember: Amy Grant
24. Happy X-Mas (War Is Over): John Lennon
25. Christmas Day: Dido
The Season Of Myths 