In his latest weekly message, Gov. Jack Markell touched on how Delawareans will benefit from the budget and other legislation approved in the early morning hours of July 1 this year.
Markell says the initiatives will help struggling students, establish a framework to pay teachers more in the future and look at how to divide educator pay at the state and local levels.
He also points out the General Assembly authorized the state Board of Education to redraw school district lines in Wilmington and the state will continue funding addiction treatment programs.
“We have much more to do, but it’s clear that we continue to make great progress," said Markell. "By continuing to focus on initiatives that provide more people with the opportunities to gain the skills that they need to get a good job and thrive in Delaware’s economy, we’re going to keep our state moving forward.”
Full Text of Gov. Markell's weekly message:
In my State of the State address in January, I talked about the Delaware Promise. It boils down to this: we strive to ensure every Delawarean receives the education and training to reach their potential and compete successfully in our changing economy. The budget I signed this past week and the initiatives established this year will bring us closer to fulfilling our promise.
Our budget invests in expanding individualized support for struggling students, better tracking our students’ progress, supporting coaching and mentorship for educators and school leaders, and growing our successful efforts to increase access to college. We’re progressing toward improving our educator compensation system to attract and retain more great teachers, while examining ways to change our 75-year-old school funding system to direct more resources where they are needed the most. After decades of calls for change in Wilmington, we’re on a path toward giving the City community better opportunities to engage in their children’s' schools by redrawing district lines. And we’ve launched programs that allow students to earn college credit and workplace experience in key industries before they graduate.
We’re also making strides toward giving Delawareans who are struggling a better path toward reaching their potential. Our budget improves and expands services available to combat those suffering from the addiction epidemic. As a result of a new law and new state programs started this year, we’re better supporting youth with disabilities in achieving successful careers and financial security.
We have much more to do, but it’s clear that we continue to make great progress. By continuing to focus on initiatives that provide more people with the opportunities to gain the skills they need to get a good job and thrive in today’s economy, we’ll keep Delaware moving forward.