Hot Topic - Education Equity Lawsuit

Hot Topic - Education Equity Lawsuit

Location

Zoom web conference
See map: Google Maps
US
Monday, February 22, 2021 - 6:00pm to 7:30pm

In case you missed it, or want to watch it again, here is the video of the presentation:

HOT TOPIC: EDUCATION EQUITY LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT: WHAT, WHY, WHO?

Presented by LWVDE Advocacy Corps Education Portfolio Chair Kathleen Baker and Senior Policy Analyst Penny Deiner.

In 2018 the Delaware ACLU, Delawareans for Educational Opportunity and the NAACP of Delaware filed a lawsuit claiming that the State was not providing adequate resources to ensure the learning needs of students from low-income families, English language learners, and children with disabilities.  A Settlement was reached in October, 2020, to address the needs of these disadvantaged students. Governor Carney will seek support from the General Assembly to provide increased funding and other supports in the coming years to meet the needs of students from low-income families, English language learners, and children with disabilities more equitably.
 

This is an opportunity to begin much-needed reform.

Read more in this December 2020 background paper: PDF icon Education Equity Lawsuit Settlement: Why Now?

 The public is cordially invited! Please join us on Monday, February 22 at 6 pm by Zoom web conference to learn more about this important topic. Pre-registration is requested at the link provided. 

Our Presenters

Kathleen Baker, Chair, LWVDE Education Portfolio

Kathleen Baker, artist, educator and activist served as a National Board Certified Teacher in Arlington and Alexandria, VA Public Schools, retiring in 2010. She founded the professional company, Opera Americana, which worked to acclaim from 1986 to 1996. Her elementary music students created original operas on subjects in science, mathematics and social studies. Recipient of numerous grants for her opera and cross-curricular work, she was twice a Fellowship recipient--for study of Mozart, and study of the Mississippi Delta-- from the National Endowment for the Humanities. For educational and community leadership – notably, the flourishing Alexandria Arts Alliance and the Sister City program with Caen, France -- she was named a Living Legend of Alexandria in 2015. 

In Delaware, Kathleen led a multi-year campaign to lift a DelDOT easement over her residential community, is active with the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice, and heads the League of Women Voters Education Portfolio.

Penny Deiner, Senior Policy Analyst, LWVDE Education Portfolio

Penny has spent her life as a professor, academic researcher, author, and advocate. She was a professor at the university of Delaware for 35 years, retiring in 2007. Her field was early childhood special education. She successfully wrote research grants to include children with special needs in family child care settings and developed a curriculum to support child care providers in the area of nutrition and physical activity. Her textbook Inclusive Early Childhood Education: Development Resources and Practice is in its 6th edition. She has served on numerous Boards including chairing the Delaware Development Disabilities Council. She is a member of the American Association of University Women where she has served as president of the Coastal Georgetown Branch and president of the state AAUW. She currently serves as the state public policy chair. She is a member of the League of Women Voters of Sussex County where she serves on the Social Policy Committee. She also serves on the Education Portfolio of the League of Women Voters of Delaware Advocacy Corps.

About the LWVDE Education Portfolio

Who We Are:  We are League of Women Voters members (The Core Team) and community members (Friends of Education) who are concerned with Delaware education policy.

What We Do:  Formed October 12, 2020, the LWVDE Education Portfolio works to:

    • educate LWV members and the public about public education policy in Delaware;
    • develop policy statements on Delaware Public Education to support a quality program of pre-K-12 education for all students to reach their individual, fullest potential as contributing citizens of our state, nation, and world;
    • support methods of financing quality public education which are equitable, flexible, transparent, measurable, and effective;
    • respond to current developments in Delaware public education, such as the Settlement of the 2018 Education Equity Lawsuit by ACLU, NAACP, and Delawareans for Educational Opportunity (October, 2020); and
    • continue to study Delaware’s public education system with special focus on financing, charter schools, and transparency and accountability to citizens.

How We Work:  In collaboration, respectful of individuals’ expertise, encouraging creative and forward-focused thinking and action.

How You Can Get Involved:
    • attend our virtual LWVDE Education Update on Education Briefings; when/where/how?
    • respond to our LWVDE Member Opinion Ballot on Current Education Issues;
    • attend to local and state media coverage on education issues and to Education Action Alerts from the League of Women Voters;
    • participate in Education Portfolio ‘Mini-Meets’ by Zoom, held twice monthly;
    • join the Portfolio as LWVDE Member or as a Friend of Education.