Thanks to those of you who noticed that my blog has been absent for several weeks. I won’t bore you with the reasons, but we have a lot of catching up to do. So with apologies to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, here is part one of my list of ten things that need to be noted from the past month. (I have split the list in two because, as one of my friends put it, a little Denn goes a long way.)
- The General Assembly Returned This Month. And one of the State Senate’s first actions was to pass legislation renewing the state’s early teacher hiring program for another two years. This program arose from a task force that Senator David Sokola and I chaired, addressing the fact that uncertainty in our school funding process was forcing Delaware schools to make contract offers to new teachers later than any other state in the region. Delaware was losing a lot of good teachers as a result. The new funding process that we proposed had its trial run last spring and summer, and the initial reports are very positive – a lot of districts are hiring earlier, and many of them are giving part of the credit to the new funding formula.
- How About Those Philadelphia 76ers? Look, I didn’t say these would be in order of importance. But this gritty, tightly-knit Sixers team is starting to remind me a little of the 1993 Phillies. (Approximately 20 of my friends are now copying this paragraph to send to me in taunting e-mails two months from now).
- The Governor’s Budget. The Governor unveiled his proposed budget last week, and most of the headlines focused on the fact that it contained no new taxes. That is true, and that is a good thing. But less attention was paid to the fact that this is an extraordinarily forward-looking budget with respect to children. From the largest new expense item, a $27 million infusion of state funds to maintain teachers and programs in our public schools; to the smallest one, a $200,000 investment to protect toddlers from having to sit on waiting lists for speech therapy, the budget invests in kids at a time when there are many demands on state dollars. New funding to expand our investment in quality early childhood education, funds to enhance prevention and investigation of child abuse, funds to maintain teacher/student ratios in the face of expanding student enrollment, funds to expand college scholarships and provide job opportunities to students with disabilities and housing for children aging out of foster care. These investments were possible without new taxes because the administration has been carefully and methodically trimming the size of the executive branch payroll over the past three years. I am proud to work with a Governor who makes kids a priority.
- Etta James Passed Away Earlier This Month At Age 73. Scores of testimonials have been written about her, and I am not going to improve on those. But for those who know her primarily through the ubiquitous “At Last,” let me make three off-the-beaten-path recommendations. First, her cover of Dorothy Lee Coates’ gospel classic “Strange Man.” Second, the searing “One Night” from her 1988 album Deep in the Night. And third, her classic rendition of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
- A Great Visit to John G. Leach School. I visit schools in Delaware almost every week. Earlier this month, I visited John G. Leach School, which serves New Castle County children aged 3 to 21 who face physical and intellectual disabilities and serious health issues. I had heard good things about Leach from advocates for Delawareans with disabilities who I work with regularly, and the school lived up to its reputation. I also had the good fortune to meet the school’s enthusiastic PTA president Lori Verlinghieri, who was stopping by the school when I arrived. Many of the students at Leach are facing enormous challenges, and helping them fulfill their potential is difficult work. The teachers and staff I met are very committed to these kids, and do their jobs with imagination, skill, and love. I’ll be back in the spring for graduation.
