Governor Jack Markell's Weekly Message
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In his weekly message, Governor Jack Markell focuses on a relatively new education initiative to ensure top teachers are working at high-need Delaware schools.
The Delaware Talent Cooperative – now in its second year -offers incentives between three and twenty thousand dollars to attract teachers to schools with a high percentage of disadvantaged students or retain those already teaching there. The program also announced this week it is also offering low interest home loans to qualifying teachers
In addition to that program - Markell says his recent visits with Ed. majors at UD and DSU leave him convinced there’s a deep pool of talent waiting to teach in all of the state’s classrooms.
“You sense their passion as they talk about helping hard-to-reach students and their desire to understand the challenges facing our education system," said Markell. "Most of all, they want to make a difference in kids’ lives.”
You can read WDDE's coverage of the Delaware Talent Cooperative here and coverage of Markell's visit with DSU education majors here.
Full text of Governor Jack Markell’s weekly message
Every Delaware child deserves the best possible education and that’s why we’re increasing access to quality early education for children in every community, raising academic standards to match college and career ready benchmarks, and investing in beneficial after-school programs.
But investments like these can only help young people succeed if they have outstanding teachers in their classrooms. This past week, I was proud to kick off the second year of what we call the “Delaware Talent Cooperative.” It’s a group of high performing educators who have committed to work in schools with a high percentage of disadvantaged students. We help make it possible for them to take on this challenge by offering financial incentives that are proven to attract and retain top teachers at high-needs schools. And we’ve just announced a new effort to help keep these teachers in Delaware by lowering mortgage rates for those who qualify for assistance.
We’ve got many excellent teachers throughout this state, but we need more. Having recently visited our next generation of teachers at Delaware State University and the University of Delaware, I’m optimistic that we can put more great instructors in all of our schools. You sense their passion as they talk about helping hard-to-reach students and their desire to understand the challenges facing our education system. Most of all, they want to make a difference in kids' lives; and, with support from a new law strengthening teacher preparation programs at our colleges and universities, we can ensure they are ready to make that difference. By working to ensure all of our students can benefit from great teachers, we’ll keep Delaware moving forward.
