Four years after Delaware won the first round of competition for federal Race to the Top funding, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was in the First State Wednesday to discuss what Delaware has done with nearly $119 million it received.
Duncan and Gov. Jack Markell visited Mount Pleasant High School to mark the occasion, talking to students about college readiness and holding a town hall on STEM-related programs.
Duncan says Delaware is making progress with initiatives it’s funded, but adds the process is far from over even as the four year funding cycle ends.
“The next couple of years I promise you will be less than perfect. You’ll have bumps, you’ll have stumbles, you’ll have hurdles. And you’ll be under pressure to step back and slow down, to fall back to where you were and retreat," said Duncan. "I strongly urge this community to stay the course and keep working and the other side of this - 3,4,5 years from now- will I think be simply extraordinary."
Markell concedes the state has experienced some fits and starts in implementing initiatives in areas like STEM education, but is encouraged overall.
“We feel good about the progress were making. We know there’s still a lot of work still to do and there’s some things that have not gone according to plan," said Markell. "So we have to approach this entire process with humility. I think that’s true in STEM. I think that’s true across a wide range of issues and we’re committed to approaching it with humility."
Delaware is a seeking a no-cost extension to use unspent funds next year. Duncan says no decision has been made on giving that extension- but says he expects to end up in a “good spot” on the issue.
Markell also used the occasion highlight the state’s first year partnership with the College Board to identify and encourage college ready, low-income students to apply to colleges.
The Getting to Zero program achieved its goal of having all students identified send an application to at least one school.
Markell says he was pleasantly surprised to hit the mark in year one – and credits efforts to assist students and their families in the process for making it work
“We recruited these hundreds of volunteers, whether they were students from our universities or local employers, who literally went into the schools and sat with these students so that they would fill out the application forms. Sat down with the parents or families to help fill out the financial aid forms," said Markell. "We launched it in September and here we are in April and we got to zero.”
Markell adds that the goal of the program now is to maintain its momentum and follow up to see that those who apply actually go to school and complete work for their degree. He noted that the number of Delaware ninth graders that stay in school through a second year of college is 30 out of 100.
"That's just unacceptable," said Markell.