Romney to support bloated U.S. Department of Education

Issue snapshots: Positions of the Republican presidential candidates, at a glance

Gingrich: Shrink Education Department. But supported Obama administration’s $4 billion Race to the Top grant competition for states. (Kilroy: don’t trust Gingrich)

Paul: Abolish the Education Department and end the federal role in education. (Kilroy: Gotta love him but slim chances of winning )

Perry: Turned down federal education aid to Texas worth up to $700 million because he saw it as imposing national standards on Texas schools. Opposed No Child Left Behind law. (Kilroy: man has some balls but too wild for president)

Romney: Supported No Child Left Behind law. Once favored shutting Education Department, later saw its value in “holding down the interests of the teachers’ unions.” (Kilroy: So we’ll spend billion to help fight teacher and deny Wall Street ed companies are special interest)

Santorum: Voted for No Child Left Behind law, now regrets vote. Wants “significantly” smaller Education Department but not its elimination. ( Kilroy: Why not just apologize? But yes smaller USDOE is needed)

Kilroy thinks, Romney will win primary and could only win if Iran was to pull some stupid shit drawing Obama out who’ll take military action causing political backlash. Middle-east is still a hot potato! Remember the shit Iran pulled to take down Carter ?

Delaware Governor Jack Markell continues to expand the size of the Delaware Department of Education

EA, Accountability & Instructional Support, Charter School Office

The Education Associate, Accountability and Instructional Support works as a member of the Charter School Office and will provide support in meeting the requirements of the Charter School Law. The primary responsibility of this position is to work with existing charter schools and potential charter applicants in the areas of charter school accountability, instructional support, Charter School Office systems development, and compliance monitoring.

Major Responsibilities:

Serve as point for all onsite technical assistance regarding academic and organizational performance, accountability and instructional improvement support.

Set up and implement a charter school monitoring system which will:

Mine relevant data

Analyze relevant data against school and student performance

Identify research to address the data results

Segment charter schools based on data and needs

Provide the determined differentiated technical assistance and training to charter school staff

Co-develop and implement systems for streamlining Charter School Office functions.

Develop and manage a master calendar of reporting requirements for Department of Education authorized charter schools.

Support Charter School Office delivery work against Charter School Race to the Top plans.

Assist with preparation of state and Federal reports.

Assist with implementation of new Charter Performance Framework.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Here we go again, another new job at DEDOE! Jack Markell is like a crack-whore who found her pimp’s stash of crack! Jack slow down, that Race to The Top money needs to last a few more years! Markell has created an entire new department within DEDOE for RTTT and I’ll bet he’ll create another with baby-RTTT /Early Education Grant. Charter schools, God help you with another Markell DEDOE clone up your asses. You can bet your ass you’ll be spending more money on staff to baby-sit these clones. So much for self-autonomy! For every one DEDOE manager it takes two district or charter school employees to wipe their asses.

FYI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More budget cuts coming your way!

Red Clay Secretarial & Clerical Employees to dump AFSCMF for DSEA/NEA ??

Good move !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Delaware Legislators are painting legislation with questionable loopholes impacting student and teacher safety

HOUSE BILL NO. 237 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REPORTING SCHOOOL CRIMES.

“This bill is a result of the work of the School Discipline Task Force. The bill simplifies the mandatory report requirements for schools, ensuring that the most serious offenses shall be reported to law enforcement while giving schools discretion to handle minor offenses without mandatory reporting.  The bill also requires that all relevant special education and disciplinary records for students with disabilities, as defined under federal law, be sent to law enforcement to allow for informed charging decisions.”

Nowhere in this legislation do the sponsoring legislators list the definition of “minor offenses”! Below is Red Clay’s reporting record (as an example) for last year. Column on the left is Red Clay and column on the right is statewide. Which category below is going to be eliminated from reporting? How fair will school district be in deciding which student to report or not? With indicating which offenses is considered minor it could allow discriminatory practices. If this is the legislators answer to give Zero Tolerance flexibility on the district’s end I must say, they need to go back and rework this legislation. The only item on the list that might be a bit lame is Tobacco possession or use!

At a heighten sense of concern with bullying and overall school safety we need to strengthen laws no water them down or certainly not give “superintendents” the discretion to sweep violations under the carpet for certain students and not for others. And if that discretion is used on a building level without approval from central staff, we are setting a time-bomb in motion. If they were to be a major event and it was found warning signs were there and unreported somebody’s ass is in deep trouble. But more importantly tragedy could have been avoided. As far as the special needs  students, some depending on their issues do act out in physical ways. Though we don’t see special education classes being “treatment.” However, depending on the disabilities, negative physical behavior could be associated with the disability. So there is a fine line between criminal intent or behavior relevant to disorder.

The needs to be “clarity” in this legislation as the danger is handing school discretionary authority to decide with crime or student committing the crime is reported. Also, what authority with the teacher or school staff have if they were the victim of the so-called minor offensive? It sound to me, school and district officials will be playing judge and jury on violations of state laws. If one student shoves another  will the principal write it as minor? The legislation isn’t referring to things like chewing gum in school, cutting class or non criminal issues. They are referring to “offenses” within the criminal code and I see a clear danger in allowing such discretion. School officials are struggling to delivery quality education to a point where the federal government has to step in. Now we want to trust them with being law enforcement?

Parents don’t be fooled! No matter what a school official says if you child was victim of any student crossing physical or verbal boundaries you have a right to report it to the police yourself. What I am saying, you don’t need to schools permission to go to the police. Same goes for teachers and staff.

Without clarity this law is dangerous !

	Offenses required to be reported under Title 14, Delaware Code §4112 and/or DOE policy
	Red Clay District Total State Total School Crimes (Title 14, Delaware Code, §4112) 123 1,014 Violent Felonies (Title 11, Delaware Code §4201(c)) 10 92 Gun-Free School Offenses: Handgun, Rifle, Shotgun, Starter Gun, Explosives/Incendiary Device 3 6 Weapon Offenses: Destructive Weapon, Dangerous Weapon, Dangerous Instrument, Pellet Gun, BB Gun, Knife, Razor Blade/Box Cutter, Brass Knuckles, Bat, Club, Martial Arts Throwing Star 21 177 Drug Offenses (Title 16, Delaware Code) 44 306 Assault III (Title 11, Delaware Code §611) 9 138 Unlawful Sexual Contact (Title 11, Delaware Code §767) 0 9 Offensive Touching of an Employee/Volunteer (Title 11, Delaware Code §601) 26 213 Terroristic Threatening of an Employee/Volunteer (Title 11, Delaware Code §621) 10 73 Department of Education (DOE) Offenses 1,485 9,717 Pornography: Possession and Production 0 4 Bomb Threats (reported as “Terroristic Threatening of an Employee/Volunteer” starting 2007-08) 0 0 Criminal Mischief (Vandalism) 9 219 Tampering with Public Records 0 0 Alcohol, Possession and Use 12 77 Felony Theft Offenses ( $1,000 or More) 0 1 Bullying 47 698 Offensive Touching of a Student 439 2,853 Terroristic Threatening of a Student 23 258 Sexual Harassment (Title11, Delaware Code § 763) 5 78 Fighting/Disorderly Conduct 835 4,810 Inhalants 0 7 Drug Paraphernalia 8 41 Tobacco Possession and/or use 61 417 Steroids Possession and/or use 0 0 Medications: Inappropriate Possession and/or use 2 25 Under 12: Assault III Student Victim 3 20 Under 12: Assault III Employee Victim 0 11 Under 12: Unlawful Sexual Contact III Student Victim 1 5 Under 12: Unlawful Sexual Contact III Employee Victim 0 0 Under 12: Offensive Touching Employee Victim 32 151 Under 12: Terroristic Threatening Employee Victim 8 42