DE State Reps Beat Up The DOE In House Education Committee Meetings!!!

“Why are we doing this?”

The House Education Committee had the Delaware Department of Education at several of their meetings this year, to explain the ESEA waivers and Race To The Top spending.  At the March 10th House Education meeting, Delaware State Rep. and Chair of the committee Earl Jaques and several State Representatives slammed the DOE on many occasions.  Ironically, this was around the same time Jaques was blasting parents over opting their children out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.

“He explained that the committee seldom makes requests as serious as this, and he asked DDOE to take it seriously.“

It is painfully obvious the Delaware DOE likes to deflect from questions by either blaming the US DOE or stating they will have to get back to the committee.  They are notorious for this type of action.  Which is painfully obvious from the February 18th meeting when they presented DOE accountability for Race To The Top funding to the committee.

“Vice-Chair Williams then asked how the $5.8 million of “unspecified spending” was used. DDOE said that they do not have details of those expenditures and will have to report back.”

While the focus was not on the DOE at the March 18th meeting, there was very interesting conversation around school nurses, locked doors, and implementation of rules and regulations.

 

 

Red Clay & Christina Educators Association Announce Resolution of No Confidence in Mark Murphy, DOE & State Board, Demand Public Election of State Board

At Warner Elementary School in Wilmington this evening, representatives from both the Red Clay Consolidated and Christina Educators Association announced a recently passed resolution stating they have no confidence in Delaware Secretary of Education Mark Murphy, the Delaware Department of Education, and the Delaware State Board of Education.   The full document can be read here:

The RCEA and CEA collectively represent over 2,500 educators in the State of Delaware, as the two largest school districts in the state.  Both districts were involved in the priority schools initiative and educators were faced with a no-win situation for many months starting last September.  Members no longer have faith in the state educational leaders to effectively provide supports for their schools and are demanding change from state legislators.

Many have felt for years the DOE has acted unilaterally without true stakeholder input from educators, parents, and schools.  It is only after they make changes that they reach out.  The resolution also states the DOE spent millions of dollars to beef up their own internal positions and as a result, students lost funding, resources and support, especially in our state’s highest needs schools.