September 1, 2011.... DSEA to fully support Performance Zone schools and staff
According to DSEA President Frederika Jenner, "Both DSEA staff and leadership want this effort to succeed, and we are prepared to support school staffs in any way we can to help them make the most of the recognition and resources now available to their schools to improve student performance.
"During the past year, we have all learned a great deal from our experience with the first Performance Zone schools. We stand ready to help our teachers engage in the planning, communication and attention to detail which will be necessary for them to be empowered and successful. As we all know, every reform initiative relies upon implementation by an educator in the classroom.
"As the educators in these buildings begin negotiating new contract terms and collaborating more intensely with their administrations, we hope the Partnership Zone designation is seen as an opportunity for families and community to join with us for the benefit of the children in these schools."
Donohue decides to accept position at Dept. of Education
July 13, 2011.... DSEA President Diane Donohue told her colleagues on the DSEA Exec. Board last week that she has verbally accepted an appointment with the Dept. of Education beginning sometime in September, ending months of speculation. She will work with other DoE staff on the implementation of the new teacher/specialist evaluation system known as DPASII-Revised. The appointment is scheduled to become official very soon.
“Sec. Lowery asked me recently, and I gave it a lot of thought, a lot of thought,” emphasizes Donohue. “No matter what direction my future took, it was important to me to finish my term as DSEA President before making any move.”
“I’ve been working on this issue of finding a way to fairly evaluate teachers and specialists using student scores as one measure for my whole term. This job opportunity allows me to continue that work. And I know how crucial it is, because an evaluation can either transform or devastate a career. I’d like to continue working to ensure that Delaware’s teachers have a system that includes student growth measures that are not only reliable and valid, but also fair – fair to every educational professional,” she says.
According to DoE, the position’s official title is Special Assistant for Educator Effectiveness, reporting to DoE’s Associate Secretary for Teaching and Learning, Dr. Linda Rogers. “This is an appointed position, repurposing an open position within the Department. Responsibilities include overseeing the implementation of DPAS II—specifically the changes to component five regarding student growth measures. The salary for this position will be calculated using the standard department formula based on education and experience.” This position is not funded by Race to the Top funds.
Diane meets with Lillian on Friday, July 15, to work out the final details, sign the paperwork, etc.
May 9, 2011... All invited to participate in Future Teacher Benefit Golf Tournament. More...
May 2, 2011.... Rueben Salters of Dover to be honored as Human and Civil Rights Honoree for 2011; students to be celebrated for winning essays and artwork celebrating diversity and human rights at Human and Civil Rights Banquet May 20, 2011, at Dover Sheraton. More....
March 8, 2011...
Frederika Jenner President-Elect of Delaware State Education Association
To take office as DSEA’s president September 1, 2011
Frederika Jenner will be DSEA’s next president, succeeding Diane Donohue, who has been president for the past three years. Donohue remains in office until August 31, 2011. Five members were in the running for the DSEA election. Mike Hoffmann was re-elected vice president in an uncontested election. He is a paraprofessional at William Penn High School in Colonial, in Colonial’s Adult Integration Program for 18-21 year old students with cognitive and/or physical disabilities.
A Delaware teacher since 1972, Jenner currently teaches 6th grade science at the H.B. duPont Middle School in Hockessin, in the Red Clay Consolidated School District. In 2008 she was named Red Clay’s Teacher of the Year.
She is a 1972 graduate of Goucher College in Baltimore with a degree in elementary education. She also holds a masters degree in instruction from the University of Delaware. Since 1972, she has served in many capacities for her local DSEA affiliate, the Red Clay Education Association (RCEA). In 2007, she began a three-year term as president of RCEA, DSEA's second largest local affiliate, with 1,050 members.
She has been an elected member of the DSEA Executive Board for the past three years. In August of last year, Governor Markell appointed her to the State Employee Benefits Advisory Committee.
Born in Washington, D.C., she graduated from A.I. duPont High School in Wilmington in 1968. She currently lives in Wilmington with husband Charles. They have two grown sons.
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Feb. 3, 2011....Where are we with Pension and Health Care for next year? Statement from State Workers United, our coalition of 13 state unions, says it all
February 1, 2011....
Statement regarding proposed judiciary pay increases
In these times of continuing economic distress and ‘shared sacrifice’, all state and public education employees are doing their very best to deliver high quality public services. While we support the efforts of Superior Court judges to obtain pay equity with their Chancery Court counterparts, we feel the proposal is poorly-timed given the Governor's effort to seek $100 million over the next five years from the cost of current health insurance and pension benefits provided to state and public education employees. We call upon the Joint Finance Committee and General Assembly to resolve these matters in a fair and equitable manner over the coming weeks as they work to construct the FY12 budget.
Diane Donohue announces she will not seek second term as DSEA President
DSEA recommends Biden, Flowers and Korn for statewide offices
August 31, 2010....Four schools named to Performance Zone and will restructure and receive millions of dollars from Delaware's Race to the Top grant:
Christina: Stubbs E.S. (Wilmington) and Glasgow High School (Newark)
New Castle County Vo-Tech: Howard High School of Technology (Wilmington)
Charter School: Positive Outcomes Charter School (Camden)
Key to Success is Collaboration
The Delaware State Education Association will work closely with school staff over the next 90 days at these PRIORITY ZONE schools to support their efforts as they prepare comprehensive school improvement plans.
"As joint partners to the school improvement effort, school staff and administration representatives must work collaboratively to ensure that the resulting plans will work to improve student learning," said DSEA President Diane Donohue.
"We will work with the staff at Glasgow High School, Stubbs Elementary School, and Howard High School to ensure that their ideas and views on school improvement are fully considered as educational partners in the development of these important plans and subsequent efforts," Donohue added. "The voice of the professional educator is essential for practical, workable plans to be developed."
"We are confident that the respective school and district administrations as well as the state Department of Education will continue the collaborative efforts that have characterized Delaware Race to the Top efforts to date."
March 29, 2010... DE receives Race to the Top Funding: It's all about effective collaboration
Since last summer, DSEA has been at the table, working collaboratively with our state DoE and other education stakeholders on Delaware's plan for education, in preparation for the RTTT application. Thanks to that involvement, we were able to make the plan better while at the same time developing a high level of trust.
For example, we were successful in providing that new regulations regarding our statewide evaluation system for teachers will require us to develop together a fair, workable definition of "student growth" that will apply to both tested and non-tested areas and include multiple measures.
In addition, each district will develop its "scope of work" in collaboration with its local teacher's union. And, if the changes being discussed conflict with the local contract, those issues will be bargained.
There are many reasons why DE was chosen, but from our point of view, the level of cooperation, collaboration, and our ability to make the plan better because of being at the table, is what will make these millions of dollars significant. Our members are starting to see that it's a chance to help reshape their schools, making changes they've wanted to make and have advocated for for a long time.
Dover, DE, March 19, 2009... DSEA President says No to Governor's devastating 8% salary cut proposal
Delaware joins "Tough Choices, Tough Times" education partners
March 10, 2009, Washington, D.C. ... DSEA Executive Director Howard Weinberg attends news conference at the National Press Club where the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) announced that Delaware would become one of a handful of states to partner with a multi-state consortium aimed at bettering America’s public education system.
Late last year, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Utah became the initial states to announce their commitment to pursuing recommendations of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce (www.skillscommission.org) in its Tough Choices or Tough Times (TCTT) reform agenda. Today, Delaware, Arizona and New Mexico announced that they too will pilot aspects of this agenda for education reform.
In a letter to NCEE last month, Governor Jack Markell requested Delaware be considered for inclusion into the consortium. The Governor gave credit to the coalition for their “commitment to producing and retaining the highest quality teacher and school leaders, compensating them for their success, and holding them accountable for their outcomes; and, crucially, investing in early childhood education.”
“Education is the most critical investment a society can make in its future. We are ready to work with NCEE over the next year to help ensure that we get the greatest return for that investment,” Markell said.
Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery also corresponded with NCEE asking them to consider Delaware in the consortium. “Tough Choices or Tough Times provides a methodology to test many critical changes to our system of public education in Delaware, changes that we have already committed to and that we must be willing to risk.”
Richard Struthers, chairman of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce also wrote for support of inclusion into the consortium. “We believe that Delaware’s vision for world-class excellence in public education will be greatly enhanced by joining the national network you are constructing.”
Project direction will reside within Delaware’s Department of Education (DOE) and will draw on experts and practitioners in public and private sectors. In addition to DSEA, business and philanthropic leaders, district administrators, and legislators have been involved in discussing how the NCEE affiliation can accelerate the work already underway. Staff support will be provided by DOE with private sector support covering the majority of direct costs, such as meetings of Delaware representatives with their peers from other states.
February 13, 2009...U.S. Senate passes stimulus bill. |
American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 will help reduce state deficit
Here's how the funding breaks down for Delaware, the funding that will impact education. There is much more, but these are the funding lines associated with education:
State Stabilization: $134.4 million
Federal Pell Grants: $26.7 million, to increase the maximum grant by $500
IDEA Part B grants: $33.5 million
ESEA Title I, Part A: $31.1 million
Head Start: $3.8 million
Child Care and Development Block Grants: $4.4 million
Educational Technology State Grants: $3.2 million
In the Act there is also a new category of tax credit bonds for the "construction, rehabilitation or repair of public school facilities or for the acquisition of land on which a public school facility will be constructed."
The inclusion of these tax credit bonds totalling $22.4 billion (nationwide) is a huge victory for NEA, its coalition partners and its affiliates since it is essentially the whole "America's Better Classrooms Act," which has been a major priority for NEA in recent years.
Feb. 11, 2009... In his second floor speach, Senator Ted Kaufman got it right, urging passage of a federal stimulus bill, with one big caveat: "This recovery package contains money in both spending and tax cuts, and not one earmark. I am disappointed, however, the bill does not include the level of education funding necessary to prevent teacher layoffs while creating hundreds of jobs in Delaware by putting people to work on school construction and modernization. I urge the House and Senate negotiators to back that funding."
Read his full floor statement here.
Of the three members of Delaware's Congressional delegation, Senator Kaufman is the only one who has spoken out about the need to restore school construction and state stabilization money to the final bill.
Feb. 10, 2009... News release: "Investing in education makes economic sense" outling the $151.6 million difference for Delaware, between the House and Senate versions of the Economic Stimulus bill now going to conference committee.
Congressman Castle voted against the House version which would have invested $79 billion in state stabilization funds that would have meant $ for Delaware over the next two years. It also included $38.; and $38.7 million in school modernization/construction bond funds for Delaware.
Senator Carper was a co-sponsor of the amendment to the original Senate bill that cut the State Financial Stabilization Fund for Delaware by just over 50% and cut out all school construction bond funding for Delaware.
Feb. 9, 2009.... Letter from DSEA President Diane Donohue to Delaware's Congressional delegation urging restoration of education funds to final Economic Stimulus package
Open Letter to Congressman Castle on his lack of support for Federal Economic Stimulus Package
Mike Castle voted against the House version of the Economic Stimulus Package during the last week of January 2009. Read our response here.
Who we are
DSEA currently represent all the K-12 public school district teachers and specialists in Delaware's 19 school districts, and approximately 2,000 school secretaries, paraprofessionals, aides, school bus drivers, custodians and food service workers in 18 school districts.We do not represent any charter schools at this time (ie, we are not the bargaining agent for any charter schools, although we do have individual members who work at charter schools and join for other benefits, information and networking opportunities).
The Delaware State Education Association, founded in 1919 and incorporated in Delaware in 1952, is both a professional association – providing information, training, professional development, advocacy, issues forums, networking opportunities, awards, membership discount benefits – as well as a bargaining agent or union.
DSEA is a unified association of local, state and national affiliates. Our national affiliate is the National Education Association, or NEA. Local affiliates are organized by school district, i.e., teachers in Brandywine belong to the Brandywine Education Association, paras in Colonial belong to the Colonial Paraprofessionals Association, etc.
The state affiliate is DSEA. Members belong to all three.
As the union of public school employees, DSEA’s mission is to “…advocate for the rights and interests of its members and outstanding public education for all students."
DSEA’s members
DSEA has just over 11,500 members in all of Delaware’s 19 school districts. As the recognized bargaining agent, we represent all of the teachers. Approximately 86% of them are dues-paying members.
In addition, we represent the teachers who work for the State of Delaware’s Department of Youth, Children and their Families (at Ferris School and other residential and/or detention facilities); and the state’s public health nurses and nurses who work for the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill in Smyrna.
DSEA also represents approximately 2,000 education support employees in 40 bargaining units in seventeen districts: transportation workers, paraprofessionals, office workers, aides, custodians and food service workers.
In addition, DSEA has a retired chapter of 550 members, and two student NEA chapters at the University of Delaware and Delaware State University.
Our National Affiliate – the National Education Association, www.nea.og
DSEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association, headquartered in Washington, D.C. NEA is the largest professional organization and the largest employee organization/union in the nation, with a membership of 2.7 million.
The only other professional teacher organization that represents U.S. teachers is the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which has no teacher bargaining units in Delaware. On the national level, NEA and AFT are working together on many projects as they explore ways in which a merger might be feasible.
NEA’s current focus is on helping members and their schools close the Achievement Gap in the most challenging schools, as well as working with legislators to fix and fund the so-called No Child Left Behind Act. NEA recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education for not funding its mandates.
The current president of NEA, Reg Weaver – a middle school science teacher from Harvey, Illinois – is an outspoken advocate for public education and one of the country's foremost African American labor leaders. As NEA president, Weaver travels across the country as an ambassador for public education. Speaking on behalf of education reform and innovation in the nation's schools, he has addressed national conferences and public policy forums sponsored by the NAACP, Cable Television Association, National Conference of Black Mayors, ASPIRA, Rainbow/Push Coalition, and University of Wisconsin. Weaver has also represented the Association internationally at meetings of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession and the Federal Education Association.
DSEA is a democratically-run organization whose policies and positions are debated and voted on by elected representatives from each local association at our annual Representative Assembly held in March or April of each year.
An Executive Board, including officers, is also elected directly by members. This board determines and carries out policy in between Representative Assemblies.
Leadership Team
DSEA’s Leadership Team is made up of its president, vice-president, treasurer and NEA director (DSEA’s representative to the NEA Board of Directors). The officers and NEA director are elected directly by the membership.
Staff
DSEA currently employs twelve professional staff and nine support staff who work out of two offices: a headquarters office in Dover and a branch office in Stanton.
Click here for more information about DSEA.
Click here for contact information and names of DSEA's officers, staff and local association officers up and down the state.
2008 News Releases
March 12, 2008 - The "Center for Union Facts" (CUF) has begun a campaign to demoralize good teachers, block reform and ultimately hurt our public education system.” A national campaign of press releases, TV, radio and newspaper ads, it targets twenty school districts nationwide, none in Delaware.
