Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/74799
Legislative Highlights Education did well this year . . . in Delaware Compared to our neigh- boring states and, in fact, many other states, education did very well indeed. Everything in the Governor's proposed budget for education was adopted. ed bills that would: • Require that organizations/ legal entities promptly file any expenditures they make in political campaigns (HB 302 Gilligan and DeLuca) - SIGNED BY GOVERNOR D • Give more teeth to anti-bullying policies (HB268 Schooley) - PASSED • Help neglected children (HB256 Schwartzkopf) – PASSED AND SIGNED BY GOVERNOR • Give districts and agencies more discretion about reporting of disci- pline infractions and crimes as well as their consequences (HB243, with HA 1 and 2 Barbieri) - PASSED • Consolidate school districts as well as the three vocational-techni- cal districts – BILLS DID NOT REACH FLOOR • Require 150 minutes/week of physical activity for all students (SB214 Bunting) – PASSED SENATE ONLY The biggest headline-grab- ber was Delaware's Charter School law With several public hearings and new bills, the questions people raised centered around what has happened during the 15 years since Delaware's charter school law passed. Can we find a way to honor the families whose sons and daughters are finding success in a charter school, while also not approving charter schools that would nega- tively impact local community schools? When is it in the public inter- est to approve a new charter school and when is it not? www.dsea.org uring the 2012 leg of the 146th General Assembly, the top headline grabbers includ- How do we honor the current Charter School law that seeks to approve charter schools that offer creative, innovative, or unique cur- ricula not currently offered in com- munity schools? Will we find productive ways so that community schools and char- ter schools can share their success- es and help each other throughout the entire public school system? Is there a way to prevent the apparent re-segregation of public schools? Serious consequences identified It started when the Newark Charter School applied for a waiver to add a high school. Issues raised were serious: waste of taxpayer money because the high school pro- grams are not different from the programs offered at Christina's three high schools; discrimination of students because of the school's "five-mile radius only" admissions policy; resegregation of the school, whose current student body does not mirror the racial make-up of the families in Newark. The Newark community took sides. "Communities 4 Education" formed to "advocate for all chil- dren." Their online site urged peo- ple to sign a petition protesting the expansion request, and to send let- ters to legislators to pass legislation to halt all new charter school appli- cations until the charter school law is improved. Another hearing was held by the House Education Committee where both supporters and opponents were heard. Sec. Lillian Lowery had no choice but to recommend to the State Board that the expansion be approved but, much to her credit, she also sent state board members a seven-page letter outlining her rec- ommendation but with conditions. Newark Charter School expansion approval comes with important conditions Those included the school devel- oping and implementing an out- reach plan to those underrepresent- ed demographic groups within the school's five-mile preference area Together the Governor and the General Assembly – Funded new education units for the anticipated increase in the student population (Budget Bill SB 360) Gave public school educators and retirees (who retired before July 1, 2011) a 1% salary increase, with larger increases to parapro- fessionals in line with the General Assembly's commitment to move their salaries closer to the poverty level. In fact, this his- toric move is the first successful effort in Delaware to compress a state salary schedule so that paras move to the top of the scale now in just ten years instead of get to the top of the scale sooner, thus significantly increasing their lifetime earnings. See page 5. The 1% increase for retirees was included thanks in large part to the Joint Finance Committee Chairs Sen. Harris McDowell and Rep. Dennis P. Williams. Funded school construction to allow local districts to move ahead on referenda-approved projects (Bond Bill HB 410) Thanks to Sen. Bob Venables, included in the Bond Bill $350,000, to help the Laurel School District with its budget problems. for enrollment; and the school offer- ing free and reduced lunch to all eli- gible students beginning this fall. The outreach plan needs the Secretary's approval prior to imple- mentation. Read the full letter at www.doe.k12.de.us/news/2012/412. pdf. Rep. Jaques takes hard look at how to consider a charter school's impact before it opens As a result of what he heard at various charter school hearings, Rep. Earl Jaques (D-27, Newark and Bear) introduced a charter school reform bill in June, which DSEA supported. HB 380 would amend the law in several ways, but the most critical would require charter school appli- cants to sit down with the local school board to review and discuss the application. The school board may then deny the application, stat- ing its reasons in writing, including the affect of the new charter school on the enrollment, programs and financial operation of the district. The charter applicant may then submit the request to the State Board of Education. At the end of a full hearing by the House Education Comm., which again saw supporters and oppo- nents state their cases, Rep. Jaques moved to table his bill since there was conversation that a Commission or Task Force would be formed to examine the entire law. To see the full bill, go to http:// legis.delaware.gov/,click on Bill Tracking, and search for House Bill 380. Significant bipartisan inter- est in amending the charter school law According to the General Assembly web site, nineteen addi- tional legislators signed on in sup- port of Rep. Jaques' reform bill: Reps. Osienski, Heffernan, J. Johnson, Keeley, Kenton, Kowalko, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Outten, Peterman, Scott, B. Short, Viola, Wilson; and Sens. Bunting, Blevins, DeLuca, Peterson and Venables. This support comes from Republicans and Democrats; upstate and downstate districts; as well as urban, suburban and rural areas of the state. What's next? Election 2012. Watch for the char- ter school law to be an election-year issue. One of the questions on DSEA's questionnaires of candi- dates deals with their views on the role of charter schools as one of Delaware's educational choices. July 2012 DSEA ACTION! 7