Do You #KnowYourLegislator?
by Michele Johnson, Rodel Teacher Council
On March 15, members of the Rodel Teacher Council assembled at Legislative Hall in Dover to get to know our legislators and other key education policymakers. All of us would admit to being far more at ease in our classrooms than a legislative boardroom, but with growth mindsets and a passion for excellent teaching—we came to talk about personalized learning and the gains we have made with our students. An unexpected twist was a challenge to take selfies with our legislators throughout the day.
The first session was a roundtable question-and-answer with Governor Jack Markell and Secretary of Education Steven Godowsky. The conversation focused on building on successful Delaware initiatives: the BRINC Consortium with Schoology, increased access to high-quality early learning, investments in Career and Technical Education, and increased graduation rates.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), recently passed at the federal level, provides states more flexibility and opportunity for innovative practices in education. Delaware is uniquely poised to continue improving our system of education. Both the governor and the secretary reiterated the importance of community buy-in for high standards and expectations for all students. As educators, we agree that appropriate high standards must be a part of the equation.
Legislators that shared their time with the Council were Sen. David Sokola, Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, Sen. Bryan Townsend, Sen. Brian Bushweller, Rep. Harvey Kenton, Rep. Timothy Dukes, Rep. Sean Matthews, Rep. Kim Williams and Rep. Earl Jaques. As we traveled through Legislative Hall, RTC members stopped to take selfies with their legislators.
The theme of the day was advocacy—sharing our experience and excitement about the possibilities for education in Delaware. You should do the same and get to #KnowYourLegislator: make an appointment, send an email, write a letter. They want to hear from YOU!