Carney & Bunting Announce Teacher Advisory Council But Violate FOIA With First Meeting Today

**UPDATED**, 4:36pm: I was informed by the Governor’s Office this is a public meeting.  With that being said, they are in open violation of Delaware law.

It wouldn’t be Delaware without yet another council.  But this one takes the cake because no sooner does Governor John Carney and Delaware Secretary of Education Dr. Susan Bunting announce this but the first meeting is today.  To assume this decision was made today would be foolhardy because the teachers would have been given advance notice to attend this meeting.  I don’t know when the teachers were given their notice, but I can tell you it did not appear on the Delaware Public Meeting Calendar until 3/23.  Today is 3/27.  Delaware FOIA law states all public notices of meetings must be up seven days prior to that public meeting.  I don’t look at that calendar every day.  The last time I looked at it was on 3/22 and I did not see it on there.

The below picture is from the posted agenda:

This is my issue with this.  There is a reason we have that seven-day law.  Not a rule, a law.  Every other state agency who had meetings or committee meetings postponed due to last week’s snowstorm reposted agendas.  But four days, for something brand new, is not acceptable.  The DOE and Carney’s Office could have rescheduled this first meeting.  But no, they announce it the day of with little to no disregard they are violating state law.  Had I known this was an actual public meeting (which was not announced in the DOE’s below press release), I would have gone to it.  But instead, I see an email from the Governor’s Office stating it is.

What was the criteria for the selection of teachers?  Does DSEA know about this?  While I always feel teachers having a louder voice is important, I do NOT like the fact this was just announced today (or on Friday if you want to be technical).  And where is the Parent Advisory Council?  How come parents are always left out of important education policy decisions?  I guess our voices don’t matter as much.  We just have to deal with the results of these education policy decisions…

I would file a FOIA complaint about this meeting with no agenda just being announced today, but it is a backdoor meeting and not open to the public.  FOIA only applies to public meetings.  Which Bunting and Carney don’t seem to want… 

Maybe I should file a FOIA complaint.  Since the meeting is going on, let’s see, NOW.

Council will gather feedback from educators statewide, increase the voice of teachers in policy decisions

DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney and Dr. Susan Bunting, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education, announced on Tuesday the establishment of a new Teachers Advisory Council to gather the feedback of educators from across the state.

Secretary Bunting invited two teachers from each of the state’s 19 school districts and six charter school educators to join the group, which will facilitate communication, contribute to solutions, and help increase the voice of teachers in policy decisions. The group will meet bi-monthly to discuss a variety of issues affecting teachers.

“Educators work on the front lines helping prepare Delaware’s children for the future,” said Governor Carney. “We are committed to transforming the Department into a true support agency to help schools and educators better serve their students. This new advisory council will help ensure that we are listening to educators every step of the way as we make policy decisions that affect the classroom. Thank you to the educators who are participating, and Dr. Bunting and our team at the Department of Education for convening this group.”

“This is an opportunity for me to hear directly from those who work closest with our children and often feel the most direct effects of our policy decisions,” said Secretary Bunting.

Teachers participating on the new advisory council were recommended by their superintendents or the Delaware Charter School Network for the voluntary role. Secretary Bunting has asked each to share his or her personal feelings as an individual rather than serve as a representative of a district or charter school’s position on an issue.

This group is in addition to the Teacher of the Year Advisory Council, which Secretary Bunting also meets with bi-monthly.

 

Educators participating in the new advisory council include:

• Kristyn Bradford of Lake Forest North Elementary in Lake Forest School District
• Seth Buford of Milford High School in Milford School District
  Shorel Clark of Brittingham Elementary School in Cape Henlopen School District
• Marisa Clarke of Central Elementary in Seaford School District
• Guy Cooper of Providence Creek Academy charter school
• Luke Crossan of Waters Middle School in Appoquinimink School District
• Todd Cushman of Delmar Middle School in Delmar School District
• Chelsea Darczuk of East Side Charter School
• Robert Edmondson of Seaford Middle School in Seaford School District
• Catherine (Katy) Evans of Sunnyside Elementary School in the Smyrna School District
• Christina Gallo of Lake Forest High School in Lake Forest School District
• Shelby Gordon of Bunker Hill Elementary School in Appoquinimink School District
• Emily Green of Caesar Rodney High School in Caesar Rodney School District
• Robert Harrod of Cape Henlopen High School in Cape Henlopen School District
• Matt Hoopes of Concord High School in Brandywine School District
• Shelley Hovanec of Woodbridge Early Childhood Education Center in Woodbridge School District
• Michelle Howard of Delmar High School in Delmar School District
• Lesley Louder of Dover High School in Capital School District
• Tina Lykens of POLYTECH High School in POLYTECH School District
• Jennifer MacDonald of Smyrna High School in Smyrna School District
• Nathalie Melvin of South Dover Elementary School in Capital School District
• Phyllis Mobley of Harlan Elementary School in Brandywine School District
• Elaine Norris of Mispillion Elementary School in Milford School District
• Petra Palmer of Delcastle High School in New Castle County Vo-Tech School District
• Michael Paoli of Hodgson High School in New Castle County Vo-Tech School District
• Sarah Polaski of Christiana Middle School Academy in Christina School District
• Moraima Reardon of Woodbridge High School in Woodbridge School District
• Lisa Richardson of Millsboro Middle School in Indian River School District
• Matthew Sabol of William Penn High School in Colonial School District
• Dara Savage of Early College High School charter school
• Cameron Sweeney of POLYTECH High School in POLYTECH School District
• Crystal Thawley of Sussex Technical High School in Sussex Technical School District
• Elizabeth Van Aulen of Wilson Elementary School in Christina School District
• Anthony Varrato of Sussex Technical High School of Sussex Technical School District
• Kim Weber of Welch Elementary in Caesar Rodney School District
• Leigh Weldin of Conrad School of Sciences in Red Clay Consolidated School District
• Karen Willey of Sussex Academy charter school
• Jill Young of Lord Baltimore Elementary in Indian River School District
• Stacie Zdrojewski of Red Clay Consolidated School District Office

The Teacher Advisory Council will meet on Tuesday, March 27th from 4:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at the Collette Education Resource Center Conference Room, 35 Commerce Way, Suite 1, Dover.

The Rodel Teacher Council Scares The Living Hell Out Of Me

Today, the Rodel Teacher Council gave a presentation to the Delaware State Board of Education with policy recommendations for their Personalized Learning Blueprint.  I’ve written about them before and actually received a bit of heat from a few of their membership.  These aren’t bad people or bad teachers.  I truly believe they have been brainwashed into the corporate education reform movement.  Some may not even realize it.  But what they came out with today for their State Board presentation literally frightens me and makes me wonder more than ever where public education is heading.  I have to wonder if the State Board of Education would ever allow those who are against this kind of thing to give a presention to them.

This presentation has all the education reform buzz words in it: Personalized Learning, Blended Learning, Competency-Based Education, Micro Credentials, Seat-Time, Social and Emotional Learning, Waivers, Assessment, and Standards.  To break it down, under these models the eventual goal is what is known as “stealth assessments”, the state assessment broken down in chunks at the end of each unit.  The student can’t move on until they “master” the material provided to them from their digital technology.  Predicting the future here, I imagine Delaware will eventually incorporate some kind of “digital badge” the student would get once they “master” the material (Colorado is at the forefront of this ridiculousness).  Meanwhile, all the data from this ed tech is going to vendors galore.  Personal and private data, every single keystroke.

So why are Delaware educators jumping on this bandwagon when it will eventually lead to the demise of the public school teacher?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Special standing, power, incentive for future mobility in their profession?  Perhaps they are blind to how their actions today will lead to the end of their professional world as we know it.  The fact that ANY Delaware school district teacher would get behind something with the Rodel name in it makes me suspect.  Very suspect.  The fact this council is going before the State Board of Education after they went to some legislators earlier this month makes me very worried.  Worried that legislation is coming that will allow this Rodel Vision of Educational Paradise.

Make no mistake.  This has been in the planning stages for years.  And it will get a huge push in states once Blockchain Technology really gets going.  And Delaware will be at the forefront of that initiative.  People read stuff like this from me and some say I am wearing a tin hat or engaging in conspiracy theory.  Let them.  They said the same thing when I said Delaware’s Assessment Inventory Committee was just a big distraction from opt out and would produce nothing worthwhile.  I said that before the legislation even passed which created that committee.

What is Governor Carney’s role in all this?  I don’t think he has an original thought on any of this.  I think his staff tells him what to do.  Many of those staff members are fully aligned with this Rodelian future and have been for quite a while.

To read what the Rodel Teacher Council (aka Rodel) wants policy-makers in Delaware to subscribe to, please read the document below.

View this document on Scribd

Delaware Governor Candidate John Carney Releases Proposed Education Policy

Congressman John Carney, one of the candidates for Delaware Governor, released a long education policy proposal.  After many months of grilling Carney’s campaign for this, he has finally released it.  Earlier this month, I had 32 different questions I asked the candidates, but Carney did not respond due to his desire to release this information after the Delaware Primary.

View this document on Scribd

Frightening Thought of the Day: President Clinton, VP Hickenlooper, & Secretary of Education Markell

If Hilary wins the election, we are ALL in trouble.  Especially those in Delaware who have lived with Governor Jack Markell’s education vision for the past 12 years.  Rumor has it Jack would be in the education top spot.  Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper could very well nab the Vice-President spot.  These two are thick as thieves.  Why?  That is coming shortly.  And it’s not how or why you may think.

Markell may have planted a seed at the United States Department of Education.  That seed has been blooming for longer than we think.  The very idea of Jack Markell as the US Secretary of Education gives me chills.  This cannot happen.  Those in Delaware who know what happened in the past few years know exactly what I’m talking about.  Jack is very involved with not only creating education policy in this country but also in forging legislation that doesn’t play out for years.  If you are against Common Core, high-stakes testing, teacher evaluations based on test scores, and corporations raiding public education funds, then you need to pay very careful attention to everything said in the next few months when it comes to Jack Markell.  This has been planned for a long time, and Jack thinks everything is set in stone.  All the pieces are in place.  Or are they?

What Is Jack Markell Up To Today? Teachers Beware!

Delaware Governor Jack Markell is speaking at an “all-star” panel today about the best paths to move the teaching profession forward.  Who is the latest education reform think tank Markell is speaking for?  None other than the Center for American Progress.  From their press release:

Washington, D.C. — In order to ensure that all students are taught by excellent teachers, leaders must reimagine the systems and structure of the teacher career continuum. Yet the United States has never made a serious commitment to modernizing, elevating, and professionalizing the teaching pathway. This Tuesday, November 10, will mark the kickoff of the TeachStrong campaign, a diverse and powerful coalition of 40 education organizations that have come together to call on the nation’s leaders to make modernizing and elevating the teaching profession the top education policy priority in 2016 and beyond.

The TeachStrong launch event will feature Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA) and Gov. Jack Markell (D-DE), who will deliver keynote addresses on their efforts to elevate teaching in their states. An all-star panel of education leaders will discuss the path forward around this critical issue.

WHO:

Opening remarks:
Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress

Keynote remarks:
Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA)
Gov. Jack Markell (D-DE)

Moderator:
Amanda Ripley, Author, New York Times bestseller The Smartest Kids in the World

Panelists:
Peggy Brookins, Interim President and CEO, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Bobby Miles, Multi Classroom Leader and Science Teacher, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; Member, North Carolina Association of Educators
Rep. George Miller, former U.S. Representative (D-CA); Senior Education Advisor, Cengage Learning
Mary Cathryn Ricker, Executive Vice President, American Federation of Teachers

WHAT:

TeachStrong Launch Event

WHERE:

The Mayflower Hotel
Palm Court Ballroom
1127 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C., 20036

WHEN:

Tuesday, November 10, 2015
10:00 a.m. ET – 12:00 p.m. ET

---

Is it just me, or is Markell doing more education speeches for national organizations than he is in Delaware?  Is he posturing himself for life after 2016?  He is definitely up to something.  My greatest fear for education is Jack Markell as the next Secretary of Education under President Hilary Clinton.  Last summer he spoke at New America where he called the Smarter Balanced Assessment “the best test Delaware ever made”.

The other forty organizations involved in this Kool-Aid festival?  The usual suspects but also some other surprising organizations including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.  Those are the two largest national unions in the country for teachers.  Why are they participating at this corporate education reform mess?  Bad move…teachers beware…