Delaware Senator David Sokola Openly Lied To Citizens In His Debate Last Night

Delaware Senator David Sokola openly lied in a debate with his opponent for the 8th Senate District, Republican Meredith Chapman.  WDEL covered the event which included a lot of talk about opt out and districts vs. charters.  When confronted with the question of opt out, WDEL reported the following:

Longtime incumbent state Senator David Sokola does not fully support an opt-out provision.

“If it said opt-out of Smarter Balanced, I’d probably support it,” said Sokola. “But if just said opt-out of the state tests–then I’d have a problem because I think we will be moving to a different assessment within a couple of years anyway.”

As Senator Sokola knows, House Bill 50 in its original incarnation was for all state assessments.  However, prior to the House voting on the bill, State Rep. Sean Matthews added an amendment limiting the legislation to just the Smarter Balanced Assessment.  It overwhelmingly passed the House and went to the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator Sokola.  When it was released from that committee, it went to the floor for a full Senate vote.  Sokola added an amendment to the bill to include all district assessments.  The amendment passed but Sokola voted no on House Bill 50.  After another Senator put on an amendment which was taken off by the House, it went back to the Senate for a second vote and Sokola voted no a second time.

David Sokola is a flat-out liar.  Some have attempted to sway me into supporting Sokola because of his track record on other issues, but I see him for what he is.  He is no longer fit to represent the people of his district, much less any child in the State of Delaware.  He can’t even own up to his own decisions and be honest about it.  Vote for Meredith Chapman in the 8th Senate District.  A quarter of a century of this liar is far too long…

Governor Markell Tries To Grow A Spine: “We can either bemoan changes in our world or embrace them”

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 has been pimping non-stop since the beginning of the year.  Every single chance he gets.  But as we all know, this is Rodel’s baby.  I have no doubt he is referring to people like me who question his every education move and see through the pretentiousness he carries with every word that comes out of his mouth about education.

The Cape Gazette, who wrote an editorial on Markell’s incessant babbling about the Pathways program, said the following:

Effective politicians act. That’s what Markell has done.

I completely agree with the Gazette.  Markell is one of the best actors on the political circuit.  If he isn’t busy promoting something that puts education money into the very greedy hands of corporations, he is setting up policy to destroy public education through the Rodelians whispering in his ear at every moment.  How the hell anyone in this state thinks he is this “great” Governor is not in touch with reality.  Or they have somehow profited from his shadowplays behind the scenes.

He denies access to the truth on a constant basis.  He puts out Executive Orders that others seem to write and sets up commissions and committees that the public never have access to.  These are the groups creating all this change we “bemoan”.  And standing front and center in front of every single one of Markell’s education decisions is Rodel CEO Paul Herdman, getting richer by the day as the students of Delaware become educationally poor.  But this devastator duo thrive on this destruction.  They spin it and say “Oh, we need to do more”, and the crap just piles up more and more, year after year.

This is a guy who hires all the people in education that continue to build up things that will eventually destroy public education.  I pray to God every single night this man never sets foot in public office again.  Why the people of this state don’t collectively organize, regardless of political party or affiliation, and stand up to these bullies is beyond me.  How they can sit at the same table as Rodel with a straight face and actually not see through the fraud and lies is beyond me.  Time is rapidly running out for people to act.  I can write about this stuff every single day but it means nothing until YOU do something about it.  There will come a day when many of you will say “Holy crap, he was right about everything.”  I don’t say that for my own personal edification.  I would rather have you believe me now AND act on it now.

If you think for one second this will stop once Markell leaves office, you are dead wrong.  John Carney already read the Rodel script and is pushing it in his own way.  He swallowed the bait Rodel dangled for him.  His own campaign manager sits on the Rodel Advisory Board.

Two weeks ago, Paul Herdman wrote about HIS version of education on Rodel’s blog.  He said “We get it, education isn’t a business.”  This coming from the guy who makes more than any state education employee.  I challenge Paul Herdman to go home tonight, look in the mirror, and really look into his soul and say the words “Education isn’t a business” and truly believe it.

As always Delaware, it is up to all of you…