DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

The Townsend Building

401 Federal Street Suite 2
Dover, Delaware 19901-3639
DOE WEBSITE: http://www.doe.k12.de.us

Mark T. Murphy
Secretary of Education
Voice: (302) 735-4000
FAX: (302) 739-4654

December 8, 2014

Dear Dr. Williams,

My team and I appreciate the commitment you have made to a process to improve opportunities for
students at the Christina School Districts Priority Schools. As part of that process, I received draft
Memorandums of Understanding at the Districts planning meeting on Friday afternoon. At that meeting,
you requested my feedback by the end of today to be able to provide revised MOUs to the School Board
for tomorrows meeting.
To date, you have declined our offers to meet with you and/or members of your team to specifically
negotiate the terms of the MOUs, but we continue to welcome the opportunity to speak with you, discuss
the broader Priority Schools process, and provide a more detailed response on each part of the MOUs.
We remain committed to working with you to develop tailored MOUs and plans that meet the specific
needs of your students and schools.
Given the short timeframe, I am writing to provide initial feedback about the Departments key areas of
agreement and concern with the document in advance of this weeks Board Meeting.
The draft MOU and guidance document that the Department released in September, as well as my
comments at the Districts Priority School Meetings, have emphasized a core set of principles about the
ways in which we can best serve the students in these schools. We focus on these areas because they
have resulted in success for high-need students in Delaware; schools with similar student populations that
have adhered to them have seen dramatic improvement in their students academic performance.
These principles include:

Excellent school leaders who have track records of working effectively with youth in high need
schools, because principals play a vital role in improving opportunities for students in our Priority
Schools.

Funding that is flexible at the school level to ensure school leaders and the school community
can allocate resources towards the most critical and prioritized areas for their individual
buildings, recognizing that these areas are likely to be different from schools that do not serve a
high proportion of students from disadvantaged communities.

Principals who are empowered to make local, student-centered decisions about areas such
as the curriculum, instructional practices, and the school schedule. School leaders need
autonomy to build programs that address the specific needs of their students and communities and
to ensure that the roles of teachers and other staff are effectively aligned with the schools needs.

In reviewing the draft MOUs we received on Friday, we are pleased to see that you have recognized some
of these elements. For example, the MOUs appear to give Priority School principals some authority over
some programmatic inputs like scheduling and curriculum, and they provide for the possibility of
THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. IT DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, SEX,
SEXUAL ORIENTATION, MARITAL STATUS, DISABILITY, AGE OR VIETNAM ERA VETERANS STATUS IN EMPLOYMENT, OR ITS PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The Townsend Building
401 Federal Street Suite 2
Dover, Delaware 19901-3639
DOE WEBSITE: http://www.doe.k12.de.us

Mark T. Murphy
Secretary of Education
Voice: (302) 735-4000
FAX: (302) 739-4654

additional pay and benefits for teachers to compensate them for additional duties and time that may be
necessary to execute the school plan.
However, despite these provisions, the content of the MOUs does not reflect all of the core elements
listed above. Rather, the MOUs dramatically limit the autonomy and authority of the principals to
implement the changes necessary to help their students succeed changes that could include: extending
the school year, providing for robust after-school activities, and providing wrap-around social services in
school buildings. These documents also do not provide the Priority Schools with adequate support and
flexibility from the District. They require principals to take unnecessary steps and obtain District approval
for making key changes, while also failing to guarantee even the current level of District support for the
schools.
Specifically, after a preliminary review, we have the following concerns:

Language embedded throughout the MOUs limits the authority of the principal to implement
the school plan, and requires District approval for decisions in running his or her school. For
example, while the MOUs purport to give principals authority over scheduling and program
changes, the principals may only propose deviation from any District requirements not
mandated by law. That could severely limit the principals autonomy in implementing
their visions for these schools. For example, a principal could only propose an extended
school day, but that proposal could be rejected by the District.

It is also unclear how much funding flexibility the principals will have. The MOU states that
[t]he School shall have the right to develop and implement its own school budget and
expenditure plan with funding allocated by the State to support the Plan, which implies that
the principals will only have autonomy over the additional resources provided by the state,
but not any other parts of their building budgets.

The MOUs give the principals the right to participation in the employment process for all
staff . . . in accordance with district policy, but no authority to choose members of their
team or shape the roles and responsibilities of their teachers in carrying out the plans for
improving outcomes for students. For example, it does not appear that principals would be
able to ensure their teachers participate in executing strategies described in the school plan,
like implementing a key curriculum change or providing additional one-on-one support to
struggling students.

Although the legal status of each Priority School is different, based on when they were
previously named a Partnership Zone or Priority School and whether they have met exit
criteria, all of the MOUs state that the Department and District will renegotiate aspects of
the original Transformation Model plans to create the new plan for the school. The MOUs
do not say what aspects will be renegotiated, so the language is open-ended about the details
on which the District and the Department would agree. Also, the prior Priority/Partnership
Zone school plans have not resulted in significant growth for students, and some of the
schools are legally prohibited by the U.S. Department of Education from again choosing a
Transformation model (see 7.6.1.7 of Regulation 103 and the ESEA Waiver). Those issues
are not addressed in the MOUs.

The District does not commit to providing each Priority School with its current level of
funding and support, outside of the unit funding earned by each school and the resources

THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. IT DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, SEX,
SEXUAL ORIENTATION, MARITAL STATUS, DISABILITY, AGE OR VIETNAM ERA VETERANS STATUS IN EMPLOYMENT, OR ITS PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The Townsend Building
401 Federal Street Suite 2
Dover, Delaware 19901-3639
DOE WEBSITE: http://www.doe.k12.de.us

Mark T. Murphy
Secretary of Education
Voice: (302) 735-4000
FAX: (302) 739-4654

that the State has committed to this effort. We believe it is essential that the District commit
to sustaining all supports and funding streams beyond those tied to Priority School status.

The Plan is due January 7, 2015, which is an extension to the original date. The MOUs
provide that only portions of the Plan need to be submitted by that time.

Again, we welcome the opportunity to meet and collaborate with you on developing MOUs and school
plans that are tailored to individual school needs, while incorporating key elements, described above, that
have proven to support students from disadvantaged communities. Although you have thus far declined
multiple offers to review components of the MOUs and school plans over the past few months, we remain
open to doing so, and are happy to meet or speak with you or members of your team at any time. We
strongly encourage you to meet with our team well in advance of the January 7th deadline to provide the
best chance to develop documents that can be approved by both the District and the State.
In addition, while Christina has declined the offer of state funding to support the planning process
$50,000 per school the district remains eligible. There are no additional requirements tied to the funds
other than that they must be used in the planning process. We encourage you to take advantage of these
resources.
We all believe in the amazing potential of the children of our state, and are committed to providing them
with a quality education to help them meet that potential. Please let me know of any questions that arise
as we work to ensure that the best possible educational opportunities are available to all of the students at
the Priority Schools.
Sincerely,

Penny Schwinn
Penny Schwinn
Chief Accountability and Performance Officer
Delaware Department of Education

THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. IT DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, SEX,
SEXUAL ORIENTATION, MARITAL STATUS, DISABILITY, AGE OR VIETNAM ERA VETERANS STATUS IN EMPLOYMENT, OR ITS PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.