Mike Matthews is a special education teacher in the Red Clay Consolidated School District, as well as a past president of the Delaware State Education Association and the Red Clay Education Association.
Twelve years ago, I was a fifth grade teacher at Warner Elementary School, one of six Wilmington schools identified by then-Gov. Jack Markell and the Delaware Department of Education as “priorities.”
It was a challenging time for the teachers, families, community members and students in my building. We were told our school was “failing.” We were told dramatic intervention was necessary. We were told the state needed greater authority to fix what we apparently could not…