VOTE! The Beast of Delaware Government Schools Wants To Be Fed
Brandywine, Colonial, Red Clay, Smyrna, Cape & Appo [round two] have upcoming votes for more taxes.
Make Your Voice Heard and Advocate for the Changes You Believe In!
There are 6 upcoming school referendum votes across Delaware.
Tuesday, February 13thpassed
Thursday, February 29th
Wednesday, February 28th
Saturday, March 9th (yes, a saturday election)
Tuesday, March 26th
Appoquinimink (round 2)6
Tuesday, April 23
A Better Delaware blog:
School Funding Referendums: What Every Taxpayer Should Know7
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A Better Delaware will be having another 'Dinner & a Movie' night at the Congo Legacy Center. Come & engage with members of your community! They will be showing "Miss Virginia", an inspiring true story of one mother's quest for school choice in DC! It is a great movie about a great woman! Sign up here.
Please also take a moment to review your school's academic performance by using Delaware's “School Report Card" utility.
State Report Cards - Delaware Department of Education8
Take for example Red Clay's Glasgow High School:
While at the Brandywine referendum town hall, I had the opportunity to have productive conversations about why BSD deserves a yes vote on the referendum. While I respect those conversations had, and approve of the programs the money would be funding, I feel the money could be found elsewhere.
District Disparities in Pay
According to the Reason Foundation, over the past 20 years in Delaware, the amount spent due to increased student attendance is 11%. The increase in teacher salaries has been 11%, but the increase in "support spending" including local and district administrators has increased by 49%.9
From publically available information found online, you can see the disparity in income from the underpaid pillars of the community, the teachers, to the bloated salaries of administration.
Brandywine School District
(Other districts were found to be similar in pay)
I. INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF Pay Rate
Teachers (covered under a bargaining agreement)
EPER - Instructional $32.00 per hour
EPER - Non-instructional Category 1 $24.00 per hour
EPER - Non-instructional Category 2 $16.00 per hour
Summer School Teachers (elect to work) $ 32.00 per hour
Summer School Teachers (required to work) per diem rate
II. SUBSTITUTES / REPORTED TIME EMPLOYEES Pay Rate
Constable $29.00 per hour
Childfind Screener $18.00 per hour
Dispatcher - Transportation $22.50 per hour
Homebound Teacher $28.00 per hour
Long Term Substitute Teacher $175.00 per day
Lunch/Recess Aide/Hall Monitor $16.00 per hour
Substitute Bus Attendant $17.18 per hour
Substitute Bus Driver* $25.57 per hour
Bus Driver in Training $15.00 per hour
Substitute Custodian $16.90 per hour
Substitute Paraeducator (Para summer rate) $19.33 per hour
Swim Instructor & Lifeguards $20.00 per hour
Substitute Secretary $18.48 per hour
Substitute Satellite Meal Handler $20.18 per hour
Substitute School Nutrition Worker $19.37 per hour
Substitute Nurse $35.00 per hour
Sports Livestream Technician - Student Worker $11.75 per hour
Educator Support - Student Worker $11.75 per hour
Ticket taker/seller, Scorekeeper, Timekeeper $11.75 per hour (Equal to Delaware minimum wage)
(excludes employees covered under a bargaining agreement)
Tutor Tier 1 - Master's Degree in Education $30.00 per hour
Tutor Tier 2 - Bachelor's Degree in Education or Master's Degree (any major) $26.00 per hour
Tutor Tier 3 - Bachelor's Degree (any major) $24.00 per hour
Tutor Tier 4 - Associate's Degree $22.00 per hour
Tutor Tier 5 - No Degree $16.00 per hour
* Sub bus drivers will receive a rate with verified State of DE transportation experience
In 2020, like many other schools throughout the Nation, Brandywine School District created a newly fabricated position10 of Supervisor of Equity and Culture. A high paying position with a six-figure price tag!
Woke Policies
Again, all that is being said applies to all schools. I will leave it up to the reader to do their own research.
Many of the schools woke policies actually create a Disparate Impact11 for ALL students.
Be sure to read included footnotes for addition context & resources
EQUITY & INCLUSION
Academic Failure
"Why is Delaware Schools on the U.S. News and World Report list when we are nowhere near the top in performance in Delaware?”18
Delaware has the 4th worst educational performance in the country on the national assessment (NAEP)
Delaware has the 4th worst educational performance in the country on the national assessment (NAEP) and the 13th highest per pupil spending in the country. Brandywine has exactly the same test scores as the average for the rest of the state on the statewide Smarter Balanced assessment and has similar spending to the state average.
Thus, only 40% of Delaware and BSD students can read at grade level and only 32% can do math at grade level. Those are abysmal test scores! Brandywine is not at the top in the state in performance - although you would be led to believe otherwise. They are average. Like the state as a whole, they are 4th from the bottom in performance when compared to all 50 states.
Much of BSD's spending goes to pay the salaries of too many administrators. Delaware's spending on "support services" which includes administration has increased by 49% over the past 20 years while student enrollment and teacher salaries have each only increased by 11% over that same period.
The districts' poor performance is largely because of too much political indoctrination and leftist ideology (see footnotes from above) during the school day as well as in their discipline and attendance policies, each of which causes a decrease in actual learning.
Teachers are not what is going to go if the referendum does not pass. That is just a threat to scare you. At a school board meeting a few months ago it was indicated that the referendum was needed due to school repairs. This information is not being made available to the public.
In response to the idea of needing to combine districts, the largest districts in the state are Brandywine, Red Clay, Christina, Appo, and Indian River. They are also the most controlled by the teachers' union. The Delaware State Education Association (DSEA; part of the NEA) spends the most money on the school board races in large districts to guarantee their control. The control the union has over those districts allows them to have a very high level of control over education in the state.
This is probably the biggest reason why our state's education performance is terrible. The union does not focus on educating students, it focuses on its leftist ideology. (Go to the NEA website to see where their top priorities19 are. Nowhere does it talk about improving academic performance.) The smaller districts are less controlled by the union. If they were combined into larger districts it would be even easier for the union to control the whole state's education system.
A Different Perspective
What sets many of us apart from the collectivist mindset of the Socialist Democrat (aka - Marxist) is the ability to think critically. Below is a different perspective shared by a respected member of the community.
I attended the BSD Referendum Meeting at Springer, last night. While the scare tactics and emotional blackmail were obvious, I came away with three insights and a conclusion:
1) The school funding process for Delaware is very broken. It establishes a pattern of referendum-focused crises that are not productive. There has to be a better way to address control of funding and protect those on fixed incomes, especially. This is up to our Legislature and needs our influence.
2) The referendum process is NOT a productive forum to drive change in our schools. No one is going to influence policy, like too much administration or DEI, through voting down a referendum. If we want to change the priorities and performance of our schools we have to do it through parent involvement and School Board involvement and leadership.
3)The BSD School Board and administration has done a commendable job of managing their finances, resulting in only an 18% increase over a total of 8 years, well below the inflation rate. Voting down a referendum would only serve to oust teachers and staff and generate chaos and ill will across the community. While it might be an outlet for frustration, it won’t enable or drive any productive change. Doing so is essentially screaming into the night because you feel helpless.
P.S. There is a LOT of misunderstanding about the impact of the Property Reassessment. It is fundamentally independent of the referendum issue. We will all face some impact from the uncertainty in that process, but it will not affect the funding of our school - at all. By law and by public commitment from the BSD School Board, the rates after the reassessment will be “revenue neutral.” Individual property tax bills MAY change, if your property value is out of sync with all the other property values in the county. That is a matter to be dealt with through individual appeals. The school revenue, in aggregate, will not change.
The Districts
More information on voting can be found on the Delaware Department of Elections ‘School Referenda' web page20
Each school has made info-graphs,pdf files, town halls, and countless vote-pandering videos available on their respective webpage. (Linked in the opening of this post) Some even include a ‘tax calculater’ to estimate your tax inpact based on the value of your home.
Anyone who lives in the district and is a U.S. citizen 18 or older can cast a ballot.
You do not need to own property or be a registered voter; If you are unable to go to the polls, you can request an absentee ballot.
Who can vote by absentee ballot?
A person who:
Is a United States citizen;
Is a Delaware citizen;
Lives in the Appoquinimink School District;
Is at least 18 years old;
Completes and signs an absentee affidavit; and
Cannot vote on Election Day because of a reason on the affidavit.
What are the deadlines?
Return the affidavit 4 days before the election by 12 noon if you want your ballot mailed to you.
You can vote in the Department of Elections Office before 12 noon the day before the election if you have made an appointment.
Return the voted ballot to the Department of Elections Office before 8 p.m. on Election Day.
How can I get an absentee affidavit?
The most convenient way to request a school district referendum absentee ballot is to visit the State of Delaware Department of Elections portal for the Appoquinimink Referendum: https://elections.delaware.gov/information/elections/referendum.shtml
The Department of Elections sends absentee ballots by U.S. Mail because the Delaware Code does not permit electronic delivery or return of school election ballots.
Email (absentee@state.de.us) or call the Department of Elections (302-577-3464) and ask them to send one to you.
Pick one up at the Department of Elections.
There are still upcoming town halls & events;
Red Clay
Monday, February 12, 2024, at 6:00 PM – Town Hall Meeting at Cab Calloway School of the Arts
Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 6:00 PM – Town Hall Meeting at Marbrook Elementary School
Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 6:00 PM – Referendum Information Night (Virtual) Zoom Link – TBD
Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 6:00 PM – Town Hall Meeting at North Star Elementary School
Colonial
February 13th, 2024 from 6-7 pm at William Penn High School
Cape Henlopin
Tuesday, February 27: Love Creek Elementary (Media Center), 6:00 PM
Monday, March 11: Milton Elementary (Auditorium), 6:00 PM
MONDAY, MARCH 18: Lewes Elementary (Auditorium), 6:00 PM
Smyrna
You can go to CitizensforDelawareSchools.org to get the latest news about education in Delaware on the site's News and Stories page.
And you can sign up on the site if you want to stay updated.
Citizens for Delaware Schools has even announced it's first educational sponsorship which deserves a mention.
Colonial addresses concerns about sports facilities in tax forum21
February 1, 2024 | DelawareLIVE
January 30, 2024 | DelawarePublic.org
Red Clay School District enters into a Resolution Agreement to ensure compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 196422
Comments from citizens of Appoquinimink School District23
Lawmaker proposes requiring referendums to increase school funding tied to reassessment24
A Republican lawmaker plans to file a bill this week requiring a referendum for any school funding increase tied to Delaware’s first property tax reassessments in decades.
All three counties agreed to reassess property values as part of last year’s settlement of an educational equity lawsuit filed by civil rights advocates.
Appoquinimink voters reject referendum, including three new schools
December 12, 2024 | WDEL
“Disparate impact,” a once obscure legal theory that is now transforming our world. Any traditional standard of behavior or achievement that impedes exact racial proportionality in any enterprise is now presumed racist. Medical school admissions tests, expectations of scientific accomplishment in the award of research grants, the enforcement of the criminal law—all are under assault, because they have a “disparate impact” on underrepresented minorities.
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BSD High schools are ranked 7th, 8th, and 12th in the state out of 40 so I guess them saying "Top High Schools"is accurate. I think the statement "maybe we set the bar too low" is all too accurate. They're only "top" because the whole state is awful.
Red Clay Did Not Adequately Protect Civil Rights of Jewish Student
District enters into a Resolution Agreement to ensure compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
We've all been shocked by some of the recent treatment of our Jewish friends and neighbors.
Sadly, similar behavior was occurring in 2023 right in the Red Clay School District. While the district took steps, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights found those steps to be "haphazard", "inconsistently enforced", "not consistently timely", and "inconsistently documented".
In a precursor to the antics of college presidents on Capitol Hill, the district initially decided that heinous behavior towards a Jewish student did not constitute "bullying".
To their credit, local media has covered the story but their coverage makes the situation sound much more benign than it deserved.
🔹️Statement from Dept of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
🔹️Copy of OCR's letter to Red Clay School District
🔹️Copy of the Resolution Agreement
🔹️Coverage by Delaware Public Media
🔹️Coverage by WDEL
🔹️Coverage by Delaware Online