Those ‘empty’ classrooms hold hope for children’s future Written by FRED SEARS and KAREN L. MORRIS (Fred C. Sears II is president and CEO of the Delaware Community Foundation. Karen L. Morris is managing partner of Morris and Morris LLC.)
It makes good business sense to support a district capital referendum when school leaders have made a strong and common-sense case for the additional funding. We believe that the Red Clay Consolidated School District has made such a case and we urge you to vote for the referendum on Feb. 28. Both of us live in the Red Clay district and will vote for both the renovations and the new school. It’s not only the practical thing to do; it’s the right thing to do.
Long regarded as an innovator, Red Clay has launched some of the most successful and high-profile schools in the state, from approving the Charter School of Wilmington to creating magnet programs at Cab Calloway School of the Arts and Conrad Schools of Science.
OK now that the Kool-aid speech is over let’s get to a real concern.
Our goal is to help the children of Shortlidge and Warner elementary schools improve their academic achievement and the ability to practice healthy behaviors. With a whole child approach, the pilot program consisted of professional development for teachers and securing a host of supports for children and their families. The pilot eventually became part of Delaware’s successful Reach to the Top application made to the federal Department of Education.
Help Warner and Shortlidge children practice healthy behaviors! WTF does that mean? There we go with Race to The Top a plan! Warner parents and Delaware didn’t have meaning participation is the design of the grant application. It was only after the application was submitted by the Delaware Department of Education and after Red Clay school board was boxed in the corner to vote for the RTTT MOU with the exception of Becnel did parents become part of the conversation. DOE Dan told Red Clay to sign or else the local taxpayers would fund RTTT programingrthat was aligned with state regulations. Red Clay failed to follow Title 1 Section 1118 on Race to The Top and the Tech for America program. We hear the call for high effective teacher in out poorest schools yet Red Clay puts recent college graduates who are not education majors and puts them through a five week summer boot camp. Come to this event to hear the truth about how parents rights were high-jacked Title 1 Conference Education Forum by Friends of Title 1, March 3, 2012
It seems the letter writers aren’t concern with the social issues and the civil rights ramification associated with Red Clay’s desire for a new school in the Hockessin area. Do they support the one way force busing for city kids to Red Clay clay middle and high schools? I think the Academia Antonia Alonso proposed dual language charter school that will be located a few blocks from Red Clay dual language school Lewis is testimony to the fact Red Clay cannot connect with the social and ethnicity of the community. Perhaps Red Clay sees some of it city schools as a burden and with their praise of existing charter schools as neighborhood schools Red Clay is saying the it knows best for Wilmington’s children and ethic culture!
It’s kind of ironic that the title of Fred and Karen’s letter is “Those ‘empty’ classrooms hold hope for children’s future”. If the there were empty seats why does Red Clay want to build a new school? Seems like they are saying empty seats must be reserve with high poverty minorities and new seats must be build for the more affluent white counterparts who refuse to be bused into the available Red Clay seats with in Wilmington. Is their two school district within Red Clay where the boundaries start and end at Wilmington city limits?
I support the referendum question that provides repairs and upgrades to all Red Clay schools that include city schools but I will NOT vote for the new school that continues the Red Clay divide of the haves and have-nots! We are one Red Clay community and Wilmington children deserves equity!
The pilot eventually became part of Delaware’s successful Reach to the Top application made to the federal Department of Education.
It’s called Race to the Top! I know. I need a proofreader but come on you’re educated and I’m just the town idiot with a GED and a pocketful of college credits
Hey Fred here is a little Conrad history for you Conrad continues to shed black students! Ask shark boy about that little deal that was made!
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First, their entire letter, every single part of it, is about their support for building the new elementary school.
This sudden public focus on Warner and Shortlidge strikes me as an attempt to not only justify a new school, but to justify what has happened to the city schools. And while I’m not knocking the additional services, just once it would be nice to hear them say that they are putting excellent educational programs into these schools.
Go reread their letter. I can find no specific educational program touted for Warner and Shortlidge. And that “healthy behavior” line says everything.
And the fact they called Race to the Top Reach to the Top is just icing on the cake.
But here’s something to consider… the fact they felt the need to mention empty seats, and mention Warner and Shortlidge tells me that our message has gotten out, and they are worried. Good.
Agree, they are completely disconnected from the realities in our schools and classrooms. Just like Skip, Rodel, and unfortunately the Governor. They say they know, they think they know, they say the listen. They don’t, They don’t, and they REALLY REALLY don’t.
Yes re “empty seats” is a major blunder!
What their message is to Wilmington parents, is your piece of pie is repairs and a community center which will need capital funding remolding that space within the building! But however, please help us delver the new school piece of pie on a silver-platter. Some of the Wilmington leaders are still on that old school notion that a piece of the pie is better than none at all.
Remember when they had meet the super for coffee! In the suburbs is was at a local restaurant and Wilmington was at local city schools.Perhaps they were concerned about how city parents behave in public. But for-sure it was ignorance in the lack of critical thinking skills of the administration
Dates and locations are as follows:
Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at Warner Elementary School Library, 801 W. 18th St., Wilmington.
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at Lewis Dual Language Elementary School, 920 N. Van Buren St., Wilmington.
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at Panera Bread, 3650 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington.
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at Cosmos Restaurant, at 316 S. Maryland Ave., Wilmington.
Know what else is amazing? Up until this desperation article Red Clay’s message to voters was:
Which obviously wasn’t scary enough, so it changed to:
Which obviously was a little too honest, so it changed to:
Gotta love the word “forced.”
And now this article springs forth telling us that the main reason for building this new school is to help city schools. Are they flippin’ kidding me?
Oh, there’s just so much here!
Read that title. Those ‘empty’ classrooms hold hope for children’s future
I thought those classrooms weren’t empty. That’s what I kept hearing – especially at the Highlands’ referendum meeting. Red Clay kept saying that there weren’t empty classrooms.
But now, they are empty and waiting to be filled with… hope.
Yeah, I’m dyin’ here. I’m almost embarrassed for RCCD and the letter writers. This article is pure pandering – and not very good pandering, at that!
i hope the Kool Aid is in a Red Solo Cup!
Linden Hill is the only school that has a feeder enrollment over program capacity, they are over 42 students, they have 80 choice students and 23 do not live in the Red Clay School District. Instead of adjusting the feeder pattern of Heritage, a school located 1.4 miles away whose feeder enrollment is 243 students under progam capacity, the Board spends thousands of dollars to install, lease and maintain 6 portable classroom rooms. Linden Hill starts serving lunch at 10:00 and is done at 12:30.
Brandywine Springs has 444 choice students. making them over-crowded, the district has major problem at Dickinson High School and McKean is under program capacity, yet the Board adds 6,7 and 8th grades to Cab and Conrad, school that are not even in the same area. Conrad has 194 choice students who do not live in our district and Cab has 414. To reduce the program capacity in the city, the Board slashed the program capacity of Warner by 505 students, from 1165 to 660. and this year reduced the capacity even more.
If you check the district budget you will find learn how much money the Board gave to our principal’s, teachers, other support employees and parents to use. Our Board provided in the school budget a total of $4,453,262, this represents 2.47 percent of the total budget, the other $175,160,201 is controlled at the district level. The percentage does not include our special schools. Match Tax, Debit Service, or Nutrition.
The Board provided North Star $197.17 per student, North Star has 3.9% low income and 3.8% special education.
They provided Warner $234.59 per student, they have 87.4% low income and 16.6% special ed, that’s 37.42 more per student than North Star.
They provided Shortlidge $238.35 per student, they have 90.4% low income and 12.9% special education, that’s $41.18 more per student than North Star.
They provided Conrad $418,08 per student, they have 31.7% low income and 4% special education, and they have 194 students who do not live in Red Clay. {Remember it takes less students to earn a unit in our K-3 classes than at the 6-12 level.
[...] education post wouldn’t be complete without linking to Kilroy’s post “Red Clay’s political bedfellows take a hand at pouring Kool-Aid – [...]
Kudos to all of you for this highly focused reporting on RCSD.
I really hope question #! passes but if it fails the district can blame themselves!