Delaware Education Secretary Fought Teachers Union

In a forced-dues state like Delaware, Mark Murphy gallantly fought the “good fight” and lost to teacher union official power.  Here’s his story, as told to Nick Tabor in nymag.com/thejob.

I was the education secretary in Delaware for a little over three years. I came into that role in 2012 under Governor Jack Markell. Before that, I had been a schoolteacher and a principal.

In Delaware, I was responsible for what kids were actually going to learn. I was responsible for all the certification — what you expect a teacher to be able to know and do, what you expect a principal to know and do. All the regulations around that. Thousands of pages of regulations.