Thanks to a link from Transparent Christina, these just popped up here…  Here are questions for Mark Murphy, that in the absence of having a newspaper in this state will be asked right here….  As many of you who want to file an FOIA with Mark, please do.

(Private Note to Mr. Sweeney:  The profitability of the News Journal would significantly increase if they would just come here and copy and paste, then print the DOE’s or Jack’s rebuttals… You’d sell a lot more newspapers…)

Here are Mark’s questions….

1) How many of your staffers have worked for the Rodel Foundation? Who are they, and why did you hire them?

2) What role did these staffers and Rodel have on the formulation of the states RTTT and Charter School mandates?

3) How much classroom teaching experience do the principal authors of the Charter School working group have, individually, and as a group?

4) Why are these individuals qualified to make decisions about education policy?

5) Were you, or anyone who works within the Department of Education in contact with any representative or lobbyist representing Pearson Education, McKinsey and Company, McGraw-Hill, or InBloom before or during the writing of the RTTT and Charter School mandates?

6) What is the Broad Foundation? What is your connection to the Broad Foundation? What education policies does the Broad Foundation support? How do these policies support public education? How do these policies support private education? What was the role of the Broad Foundation in the creation of the RTTT mandates?  How many employees on Delawares payroll were trained specifically by the Broad Foundation?

7) How many individuals associated with the Broad Foundation helped author the report the two controversial education bills before the General Assembly this session, HB 165 and SB 65?, “
8) Do you know David Coleman? Have you ever had any conversations with David Coleman? Has anyone on your staff had any conversations with David Coleman? Did anyone within the Department of Education have any connection to any of the authors of the Common Core Standards? Did anyone in your Department have any conversations with any of the authors of the Common Core Standards as they were being written?

9) Have you ever had any conversations with representatives or lobbyists who represent the Walton Family Foundation? Has anyone on your staff had any conversations with the Walton Family Foundation or lobbyists representing the Walton Family Foundation? If so, what was the substance of those conversations?

10) Do you know Michelle Rhee? If so, could you describe your relationship with Michelle Rhee? Have you, or anyone working within the Department of Education, had any conversations with Students First, Rhee’s advocacy group, about the dispersal foundation funds for candidates in local and state school board elections uniting-against-common-core-and-race-to-the-top/ 

If you could be asked these in tomorrows Committee hearing and reply on the record, that would be sufficient… 

Thank you.