Dual Certified Spec Ed Teachers, Good Thing or Not?

I am extremely concerned with the direction our districts are going with respects to dual certified special education teachers. We have elementary schools which are serving ELL, Spec Ed and general education students and many of these students are also low income students. What seems to be the norm, correct me if I am wrong, if you are a dual certified special education teacher you have additional responsibilities than a teacher who is not dual certified. I am not saying that general education teachers who are not dual certified are not working as hard as a dual certified teacher; what I am saying is dual cert. teachers have more responsibilities that require an action with documentation such as IEP meetings, IEP paper work, implementing the IEP etc. The school districts and the State are getting two teachers in one at the same pay scale.

I was in Dover recently for the JFC meeting when JFC members were asking DOE questions about DOE salary scale. It was interesting to hear the Department of Education and their reasoning behind the salaries. They spoke about the need to be competitive in order to attract the best people. They spoke about people doing multiple jobs under one title and there was a need to pay them more.

We have teachers performing multiple jobs as well under one title and not receiving one penny more. We really need to rethink how we are educating our children here in Delaware and what is expected from our staff who are responsible for making this happen. The necessary resources that are needed in our classrooms are not there. We are demanding our teachers to do more and more with less and less. The teachers I know, want  to make a difference but cannot do that because of what is expected of them and what is lacking in their classrooms.

 

Redistricting Committee Update

I attended the WEIC Redistricting Committee meeting last night. I have concerns about the tight timeline and have expressed my concerns to the commission. There just does not seem like there is going to be enough time given to the public to review the recommendations and to have their concerns heard or their questions answered. The final report is not completed and the public hearing comment window opens on November 30th. How is the public going to go on record when they have not been given the report or enough time to review the report?  The public hearings start in 16 days.

I know everyone on the commission and each of the committees have worked extremely hard and are committed to making positive changes for all our students. But, if you want public support we must inform them of the plans.

The next Redistricting Committee meeting will be held on November 19th from 4:00 until 6:00 at Baltz.

Below is a schedule of the public hearings.

Red Clay School Board Special Public Session – November 2nd

Special Public Session of the Red Clay Board on Monday, November 2, 2015.  The meeting will begin at 5:30 at District Office in the First Floor Conference Room.  Main focus of the meeting will be discussion of the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission (WEIC).

Interesting to See, Two Senators Voted Not to Support Steven Godowsky as Secretary of Education

I thought it was interesting to see that two Senate members voted no to Secretary Godowsky’s appointment; I wonder why? To view the Senate vote, click here.

Steven Godowsky Passed

Date: 10/28/2015 04:34 PM Passed

Vote Type:SM Yes: 19 No: 2 Not Voting: 0 Absent: 0

Blevins	Y	Hocker	Y	Peterson	Y
Bonini	N	Lavelle	N	Pettyjohn	Y
Bushweller	Y	Lawson	Y	Poore	Y
Cloutier	Y	Lopez	Y	Richardson	Y
Ennis	Y	Marshall	Y	Simpson	Y
Hall-Long	Y	McBride	Y	Sokola	Y
Henry	Y	McDowell	Y	Townsend	Y

Secretary Godowsky has a very impressive resume according to the News Works article. He has been a part of Delaware’s educational system for over 40 years.

The new secretary of education began his career more than 40 years ago as a special education teacher in Wilmington. He later became an administrator, serving as assistant principal at Delcastle Technical High School in Newport and principal of Hodgson Vo-Tech High School in Newark.

From 2003 to 2011 he was superintendent of the New Castle County Vocational Technical School District, and was named the state’s superintendent of the year in 2010.

Red Clay School Board Special Public Session – November 2nd

Special Public Session of the Red Clay Board on Monday, November 2, 2015.  The meeting will begin at 5:30 at District Office in the First Floor Conference Room.  Main focus of the meeting will be discussion of the Wilmington Education Improvement Commission (WEIC).

Some Examples of Why House Bill 130 is Necessary

In August, Governor Markell vetoed a bill that I sponsored, House Bill 130. These two articles really show why House Bill 130 is necessary.

A Michigan Doctor faces prison time for trading drugs for sex and Doctor’s license pulled for sex with patients

This just absolutely makes me sick what this doctor did to these two women. The doctor prescribed highly addictive drugs to at least two of his patients, there could be more victims. Once the women became dependent on the drugs, he demanded sex and money in exchange for new prescriptions. Not only were these women raped by this doctor now they are addicted to drugs.

In the other article, the doctor admitted to sexual encounters with three different patients he treated, with a resident he supervised and with an office assistant who worked for him. He further admits that his sexual behaviors persisted even after he knew he was under investigation by the Board.

The Medical Board of Ohio has suspended the license of Dr. Johnson for an indefinite period of no less than two years. The Medical Board of Ohio should be revoking his license forever.

I am still baffled as to why the Governor vetoed House Bill 130. I did forward a letter to him in response to his veto statement, I will share the letter in another post.