Kim Williams Calls Out Earl Jaques For The Consummate Liar He Is

In an article on Delaware Public Media concerning the status of the charter school audit bills, State Rep. Earl Jaques spun a web of lies about State Rep. Kim Williams, the sponsor of the bill.  He gave a quote to reporter Sarah Mueller stating Rep. Williams never approached him about the bill.  But Williams didn’t take it lying down.  Nor should she.

New Charter School Audit Bill Would Make Kathy McGuiness Do Her Fricking Job

When the Odyssey Charter School debacle that made Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness look like she was in cahoots with her Greek friends on the Odyssey board became public, it was obvious a change needed to happen.  State Reps. Kim Williams and John Kowalko introduced a new bill today that would give the General Assembly, the Governor, the state Attorney General, or the Secretary of Education more power to force the Auditor of Accounts Office to do audits for charter schools:

This Act authorizes the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Department, or General Assembly, including a House, joint committee, committee, or member of the General Assembly, to request, and requires the Auditor of Accounts conduct or contract for, an audit of a charter school’s business and financial transactions, records, and accounts in certain circumstances. In addition, this Act makes clear that the Auditor of Accounts may not charge for an audit conducted or contracted for under this Act.

In addition, it would get rid of Kathy McGuiness’ ridiculous claim that she would have to charge a state agency for the cost of an audit.  This coming from the woman who cries poor for her Auditor’s office but has been giving out $100,000+ salaries like they are candy in the past few months.

These are the proposed changes to state code:

(4)a. The Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Department, or General Assembly, including a house, joint committee, committee, or member of the General Assembly, may request the Auditor of Accounts conduct or contract for an audit of a charter school’s business and financial transactions, records, and accounts if 1 of the following applies:

1. The Public Integrity Commission makes an advisory finding under § 5807(c) of Title 29 or final finding under § 5810 of Title 29 that a violation of § 5805 or § 5806 of Title 29 has occurred.

2. The Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Department, or General Assembly, including a house, joint committee, committee, or member of the General Assembly has evidence of a violation of State law or regulation or the misuse of State money.

b. The Auditor of Accounts shall conduct or contract for an audit of a charter school’s business and financial transactions, records, and accounts if requested under paragraph (d)(4)a. of this section.

c. The audit the Auditor of Accounts conducts or contracts for under this paragraph (d)(4) of this section must comply with generally accepted accounting principles.

d. When an audit is conducted or contracted for under this paragraph (d)(4) of this section, the Auditor of Accounts shall file a written report containing the information under § 2909(b) of Title 29 with the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Department, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall distribute the report to the members of the General Assembly and the Controller General and Director of the Division of Research.

The bill’s Senate Prime is Jack Walsh, along with co-sponsors including Reps. Baumbach, Bennett, Brady, Longhurst, Matthews, Mitchell, Osienski, Smith, and Viola along with Senators Delcollo, Pettyjohn, Poore, Sokola and Wilson.  Some of these names are very interesting, including Smith and Sokola who have long been champions for charter schools.  But perhaps they are realizing that Delaware can no longer tolerate the financial malfeasance going on at Delaware’s charters.

The next step for this bill will be the House Education Committee.  It remains to be seen if Chair of the committee, Rep. Earl Jaques, will let it be heard before June 30th.  If not, it would carry over into the second leg of the 150th General Assembly which begins in January, 2020.

On June 5th, McGuiness wrote a long letter to members of the General Assembly about why she is choosing not to have her office begin an investigative audit into Odyssey Charter School.  I don’t agree with her reasoning whatsoever and no one has ever done this before in the Auditor’s office when it comes to a charter school audit.

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Pay For Success Bill Passes Senate But Gets Amendment Creating A Working Group To Create Procedures For Education Before Implemented In This Area

Sometimes you just have to make some noise.  But it turns out I wasn’t the only one.  Last evening, before I even began writing my article about Senate Bill #242 needing changes, State Rep. Kim Williams and Senator Jack Walsh were already in discussion about placing an amendment on the Pay For Success legislation.

The amendment forms a working group to basically set the parameters for how Pay For Success will work in not only Early Childhood Education but also public education (K-12 schooling).  While public education was not directly mentioned in the bill, it left it open.  This amendment codifies and puts in writing how this will be moving forward.  I am VERY pleased with this outcome and I salute Williams and Walsh for doing this!  I don’t tend to get heated up over legislation like I did in my early blogging days.  It took me by surprise but I felt it was important and I am very glad that others saw some of my same concerns and acted on it.

The amendment passed the Delaware Senate with 17 yes, 4 absent.  Senate Bill #242 passed with 18 yes, 3 absent.

This Amendment requires that specific procedures be established for Pay for Success contracts that involve early childhood education or public education. This Amendment also creates a working group that will make recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget regarding these procedures.                    

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DSEA Needs To Push For Amendments In Pay For Success Bill Lightning Fast! This Bill Is Being Rushed At The 11th Hour!

The Delaware State Education Association needs to keep a very close watch on a bill flying through the Delaware General Assembly!  Scratch that.  They need to be all over Senate Bill #242 like white on rice!  They have the political muscle to get some fast changes on this bill and they need to flex it yesterday!  This bill has more head-scratching sponsors on it who should know better!

Senator Sokola: “Maybe Christina Should Give One Of Their Buildings To Newark Charter School”

The Delaware Senate Education Committee tackled the 5 mile radius bill today with some explosive comments from Senator David Sokola, mostly in response to a public comment.  Warning: some of the comments conveyed today will get people very angry.

After the Primary: Delaware Candidates for General Election on November 8th

Delaware Primary season is over!  Now that the playing field has been seriously trimmed, this is the final list of Delaware candidates for the General Election on November 8th.  Some candidates who I previously called winners after the deadline in July now face an opponent from party-nominated candidates who were put on the ballot by September 1st or members of the Green party who are in the game now.  I will be coming out with my own endorsements in the weeks ahead.

 

Deadline to Register to Vote for General Election: October 15th

Delaware Election 2016: November 8th

 

What’s At Stake:

President: The future of the country.

Delaware Senate: 11 out of 21 seats up for re-election, 11 seats needed for party control.  As of the 148th General Assembly, there were 12 Democrats and 9 Republicans in the Delaware Senate. With no one running against some candidates, 8 Democrats and 7 Republicans will retain seats. Magic number for party control in the Senate- Democrats: 3, Republicans: 4

*the only thing that could change this scenario is if Senator Bethany Hall-Long wins the Lieutenant Governor race and then a special election would take place after the General Election for her seat.  The same would apply if Senator Colin Bonini wins the Governor race.

Delaware House: All 41 seats up for reelection, 21 seats for party control.  As of the end of the 148th General Assembly, there were 26 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the House. With no one running against some candidates, 16 Democrats and 4 Republicans will retain seats.  Magic number for Democrats: 5, for Republicans: 17.  These numbers don’t assume certain parties will win if a candidate is running against one of the Libertarians, Greens, or Independents.   Assuming the incumbents win in those elections, that would change the magic numbers for Democrats to 4 and the Republicans to 15.

As of tonight, we have a brand new Delaware Senator from the 9th Senate District: Jack Walsh.  Congratulations Senator Walsh!  As well, Wilmington will have a new Mayor.  Congratulations to Mayor Michael Purzycki.

 

President:

Hillary Clinton (D)

Jill Stein (G)

Gary Johnson (L)

Donald Trump (R)

 

Governor:

John Carney (D)

Andrew Groff (G)

Sean Goward (L)

Colin Bonini (R)

 

Congress: US Representative

Lisa Blunt Rochester (D)

Mark Perri (G)

Scott Gesty (L)

Hans Reigle (R)

 

Lieutenant Governor: 

Bethany Hall-Long (D)

La Mar Gunn (R)

 

Insurance Commissioner:

Trinidad Navarro (D)

Jeffrey Cragg (R)

 

State Senate:

District 1: 

Harris McDowell III (D) (Incumbent)

James Spadola (R)

 

District 5:

Denise Bowers (D)

Catherine Cloutier (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 7:

Patricia Blevins (D) (Incumbent)

Anthony Delcollo (R)

 

District 8:

David Sokola (D) (Incumbent)

David Chandler (G)

Meredith Chapman (R)

 

District 9: Winner

John Walsh (D)

 

District 12: Winner 

Nicole Poore (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 13: Winner

David McBride (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 14:

Bruce Ennis (D) (Incumbent)

Carl Pace (R)

 

District 15: Winner

Dave Lawson (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 19: Winner

Brian Pettyjohn (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 20:

Perry Mitchell (D)

Gerald Hocker (R) (Incumbent)

 

State Representative:

District 1: Winner

Charles Potter (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 2: Winner

Stephanie Bolden (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 3: Winner

Helene Keeley (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 4: Winner

Gerald Brady (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 5: Winner

Melanie George Smith (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 6: Winner

Deb Heffernan (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 7:

Bryon Short (D) (Incumbent)

Robert Wilson (L)  

 

District 8: Winner

Quinton Johnson (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 9:

Monique Johns (D)

Kevin Hensley (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 10:

Sean Matthews (D) (Incumbent)

Judith Travis (R)

 

District 11:

David Neilson (D)

Jeffrey Spiegelman (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 12: Winner

Deb Hudson (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 13: Winner

John Mitchell (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 14:

Peter Schwartzkopf (D) (Incumbent)

James DeMartino (R)

 

District 15: Winner

Valerie Longhurst (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 16: Winner

James Johnson (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 17: Winner

Michael Mulrooney (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 18: Winner

David Bentz (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 19:

Kim Williams (D) (Incumbent)

James Startzman (R)

 

District 20:

Barbara Vaughn (D)

Don Ayotte (I)

Stephen Smyk (R) Incumbent

 

District 21:

David McCorquodale (G)

Mike Ramone (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 22:

Lanette Edwards (D)

Bernard August (G)

Joseph Miro (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 23: Winner

Paul Baumbach (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 24:

Edward Osienski (D) (Incumbent)

Timothy Conrad (R)

 

District 25:

John Kowalko (D) (Incumbent)

Mike Nagorski (R)

 

District 26: Winner

John Viola (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 27: Winner

Earl Jaques (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 28: Winner

William Carson (D) (Incumbent)

 

District 29:

Trey Paradee (D) (Incumbent)

Ruth James (G)

Janice Gallagher (R)

 

District 30:

Charles Groce (D)

William Outten (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 31: 

Sean Lynn (D) (Incumbent)

Jean Dowding (R)

 

District 32:

Andria Bennett (D) (Incumbent)

Patricia Foltz (R)

 

District 33: 

Karen Williams (D)

Charles Postles (R)

 

District 34:

David Henderson (D)

Lyndon Yearick (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 35:

Gary Wolfe (D)

David Wilson (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 36: Winner

Harvey Kenton (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 37: 

Paulette Rappa (D)

Ruth Briggs-King (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 38: Winner 

Ronald Gray (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 39:

James Brittingham (L)

Daniel Short (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 40: Winner

Timothy Dukes (R) (Incumbent)

 

District 41:

Bradley Connor (D)

Richard Collins (R) (Incumbent)

 

New Castle County Executive

Matt Meyer (D)

Matt Blake (R)

 

Mayor of Wilmington: Winner

Michael Purzycki (D)

 

The following Delaware Senate seats are not up for re-election this year:

District 2: Margaret-Rose Henry (D)

District 3: Robert Marshall (D)

District 4: Greg Lavelle (R)

District 6: Ernie Lopez (R)

District 10: Bethany Hall-Long (D)

District 11: Bryan Townsend (D)

District 16: Colin Bonini (R)

District 17: Brian Bushweller (D)

District 18: F. Gary Simpson (R)

District 21: Bryant Richardson (R)