The Delaware Attorney General’s office released a Freedom of Information Act legal opinion today giving Delaware Governor Carney the right to use executive privilege for a council designed to improve family services in Delaware. In other words, they are allowed to hold non-public meetings and invite whomever they choose with no one the wiser. The Attorney General’s office agreed with Carney’s office because of a very bad “separation of powers” clause in state law.
Delaware Governor John Carney is embarking down a very dangerous path. I assume this is in response to my article last month about how the first meeting of the Family Services Cabinet Council was closed to the public. Governor Carney rescinded his Executive Order #5 to create Executive Order #9 which established new wording in recreation of the Family Services Cabinet Council:
In accordance with the common law privilege protecting executive communications concerning the deliberative and policy-making processes, the records, investigations, internal communications, deliberations and draft work product of the Council shall be confidential and may be disclosed only at the direction of the Governor.
What kind of nonsense is this John Carney? A Cabinet-level council, and you deliberately shut any discussion this group has out of the public eye? The very term “deliberative and policy-making processes” demands it be open to the public. You are full of it Governor Carney. Your campaign promise and the part on your inaugural address about an open state government was a complete and utter lie. We both know what will happen in these meetings. Stop pretending you are a Governor and not a corporate puppet to the special interests that want to turn education and the workforce into their own molding. I am done listening to anything you have to say. With the stroke of a pen, in response to my article about transparency in your office, you have shown your true colors once and for all. Shame on you Governor Carney. You have destroyed FOIA in Delaware with this action by essentially excluding any of your Cabinet members on this charade of a Family Services Cabinet Council. They can cite executive privilege in any FOIA request by stating it is tied to the activities of this council. And with one line on this, you have made damn sure you can invite anyone to the party and protect them as well with no oversight or transparency whatsoever: “…and such others as the Governor shall invite.” But we will NEVER know who those others are, will we. Open government my ass. Dictatorship is more like it.
In February, Delaware Governor John Carney brought back the Family Services Cabinet Council through Executive Order #5. Many in Delaware thought this was a good thing. But apparently transparency took a backseat to this return. The group met on Wednesday, April 5th, 2017 in a meeting that was closed to the public and press. What is the point of this council if it is not able to be seen by the public?
I discovered this when I was looking at the Governor’s public schedule last week. I also view the Delaware Public Meetings Calendar and did not see this on there. I would have attended this meeting had it been made public but I never had the chance.
For a council that is responsible for recommendations for so many issues in Delaware, I am shocked they wouldn’t let the public in on it. To that end, I emailed Governor Carney’s staff about this gross oversight on April 6th. Over a week later and NO response.
This is the kind of crap I would expect from former Delaware Governor Jack Markell. I truly hoped Governor Carney would be different. But I am not seeing that marriage between the state and the public. Especially with a council as important as this one. So what are the areas this council covers that Carney doesn’t want the public to hear conversation about?
If this council isn’t open to the public will we ever see any minutes from their meetings? Attendance? Who else is invited? What they are even doing? I urge Governor Carney to answer these questions and make this council open to the public. Delaware got an F for transparency and came in 49th out of 50 states in an evaluation of public transparency at the end of 2015. That should have ended on January 17th, 2017, the day Governor Carney swore his oath of office and promised the citizens of Delaware he would listen to the people. I expect more from you Governor Carney!
For those who have been following this blog the past few years, I have written many articles about the eventual goals of the corporate education reformers and this council seems to be moving things along in that direction. Especially when it comes to strengthening the “public-private partnerships”.
The mission of the Council shall be to design and implement new service alternatives for school and community-based family-centered services, and otherwise act as a catalyst for public-private partnerships to reduce service fragmentation and make it easier for families to get supportive services.
In a nutshell, this is inviting non-profits into our schools. While some may see this as a step in the right direction, I am hesitant to think this is the cure for what ails the youth of Delaware. Every single time a company, whether it is for-profit or non-profit, comes into our schools, it is siphoning money away from students and into the more than welcoming hands of corporations. With that comes bad education policy because the corporations only make money off education if there is something to fix. The measurement of what needs to be “fixed” is the standardized test, currently the Smarter Balanced Assessment in Delaware. If there is one thing we have learned in Delaware it is the Smarter Balanced Assessment is very flawed and their consortium is extremely non-transparent and secretive.
Carney was also instrumental in getting the whole Blockchain thing going in Delaware. If you want your children to morph into drones in the Common Core/personalized learning/digital tech/stealth testing/digital badge environment than please ignore this article.
As citizens of Delaware, we need to demand transparency from Governor Carney. Please call the Governor’s office today. The Dover office phone number is (302) 744-4101 and the Wilmington office phone number is (302) 577-3210. Or you can email him here: Email Governor Carney
On Tuesday, Delaware Governor John Carney signed Executive Order #5. This order reestablishes the Family Services Cabinet Council. From the press release:
Governor Carney Reestablishes the Family Services Cabinet Council
Date Posted: Tuesday, February 28th, 2017
WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney signed Executive Order Five on Tuesday, reestablishing the Family Services Cabinet Council to help coordinate public and private services for Delaware families.
Delaware families continue to face significant challenges – including the high cost of child care; violence and poverty in their neighborhoods; the impact of caring for an aging family member; and the challenges of navigating an economy in transition. The Family Services Cabinet Council will be charged with coordinating public and private services that are often fragmented, and proposing changes to current programs to make the delivery of state services more effective.
Governor Carney will serve as chair of the Council.
Reestablishment of the Council, which was first established under Governor Tom Carper, was an action called for by Governor Carney’s Transition Team in their Action Plan for Delaware. The Council also will work closely with the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review Board (GEAR), which Governor Carney created this month to identify cost savings and efficiencies in state government, and to more effectively operate state programs and services.
“Our challenge is to determine whether the programs and services we offer are effective in moving families out of poverty, improving our system of education and creating opportunities for all Delaware families to succeed,” said Governor Carney. “That requires all of us – government agencies, nonprofits and private business – to work together. That also requires that we measure our progress. The reestablishment of the Family Services Cabinet Council will help us do just that, and make a meaningful difference in the lives of Delaware families.”
The Council will be tasked with implementing innovative tools and strategies for addressing a series of specific issues, including: breaking the school-to-prison pipeline; improving access to early childhood education; increasing the availability of affordable housing; improving access to substance abuse treatment; reducing recidivism in Delaware’s correctional system; expanding job training opportunities; and reducing violence in Delaware’s neighborhoods.
The Council will include eight members of Governor Carney’s Cabinet – the Secretary of the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families; the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services; the Secretary of the Department of Education; the Secretary of the Department of Labor; the Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security; the Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority; the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and the Commissioner of the Department of Correction.
“It is our duty to ensure that our children and our families have the necessary tools to be healthy, prosperous, and safe,” said Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long. “The reestablishment of this Council will break down silos in state government and allow for a more collaborative and coordinated approach to address some of the most critical issues we face, so that every Delawarean has a fair shot.”
The Season Of Myths 