"Delaware Charter Schools Still Offer a Bold Path Forward." DelawareOnline. February 12, 2022. Concerns have recently been expressed about the growing number of charter schools. In an August 2015 article in Delaware Today Magazine, it was stated that “Charters proliferated in a way never intended or anticipated.” The original plan was to have a few charter schools to model a new way of operating that, eventually, would be adopted by all public schools and replace the existing system of school boards and education bureaucracies. That “new way” was local control with operational decision-making at the building level by the people hired to educate the students — the administrators and teachers. Steve Jobs once said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do!”...READ MORE.
"Viewpoint: It's not Classrooms that need fixing, it's State Bureaucracy." Delaware Business Times. April 16, 2019. Many worthwhile improvements have been made to increase the educational performance of Delaware’s students. We have experienced Visions, Races, increased resources, more administrators and support staff. The dilemma is that despite these worthwhile efforts there has been no significant education improvement in over 30 years! The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that from 1999 to 2017 our eighth- graders’ progress has been flat with two-thirds functionally illiterate in math and reading. The Alliance for Excellent Education reports only 34% are college-ready. Recently local colleges reported 53% of entering Delaware freshmen required remediation...READ MORE.
"Charter and Traditional Schools don't have to be Adversaries." DelawareOnline. June 27, 2018. In a recent column, Matt Albright commented on the conflict between charter school proponents and traditional public school defenders. There appears to be a general animus toward charters among many of the traditionalists. But is it all justified and/or accurate...READ MORE.
"Improving Voter Turnout won't Fix School Boards." DelawareOnline. May 9, 2018. Let’s say that you owned a business that had failed repeatedly over the years while costing millions of dollars. Would you continue to spend time, resources, and effort to prop up this failing venture, when less than 2 percent of the available market had shown any interest in it? Or would you come to the realization that it’s time for a fundamental change? That is precisely the situation with Delaware’s traditional school board educational system. Simply stated, it doesn’t work, people don’t care about it, and a fundamental systemic change is desperately needed...READ MORE.
"Schools Need More Local Control: Delaware Voices." DelawareOnline. October 10, 2017. Sunday’s education article by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Jr. ended with the admonition that it’s time to do something big. The chief justice was involved at the start of Delaware’s education reform effort in 1995. I share his frustration at its failure and I suggest that what we need has to be not only big but bold. Read Strine's piece: How to fight resegregation and inequality in our schools. In general, education’s contribution to the economic well-being of our state is grossly undervalued. It affects Delaware’s ability to attract/retain business, real estate values, taxes, workforce quality, crime rates, etc...READ MORE.
*Below are archive copies of Ron Russo's Op-eds from 2011 through 2017.
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