Gov. John Carney is recommending $2.1 billion be allocated to the Department of Education (DOE) in fiscal year 25, with $3 million for early literacy coaches.
On Delaware’s 2023 State Assessment, only 40% of students in grades 3-8 scored at or above proficiency in English language arts, down 2 percentage points from 2022.
In 2022, fourth graders in Delaware scored below the national average of reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report, and ranked lower than 39 other states/jurisdictions. Only 25% of students performed at or above the NAEP proficiency level, an 8 percentage point decrease from 2019.
"Let me be clear, out third grade literacy reading scores are not acceptable. We have to get them up. We have to get the trend moving in the right direction this year," Secretary of Education Mark Holodick told the Joint Finance Committee (JFC).
JFC member and House Education Committee Chair State Rep. Kim Williams (D-Newport) raised concerns over passing new curriculum-based bills while schools are still working to implement legislation passed in 2022 to improve state literacy and reporting methods.
Holodick agreed with Williams, explaining in his talks with Mississippi, the model for Delaware’s literacy coach program, he found the state may need to make reading skills a singular priority.
“At that time, they made that the sole focus of their work. Now, we didn’t get into the legislation and such, but they continued to reiterate how important it was to block out all the other noise and focus on literacy," he says.
The $3 million in funding would support 20 early literacy coaches, who would be deployed to various schools and facilitate professional development on how to teach literacy skills to students.
Additionally, State Sen. Dave Lawson (R-Marydel) brought up the increase in the number of special education students in Delaware schools, which Holodick says is driving DOE budget increases.
Lawson noted the number of funding units added exceeds what would be expected with only 427 students added to Delaware’s K-12 schools this year
Special education classrooms require smaller student to teacher ratios, creating the need for more units than a regular classroom.
The current unit funding structure per the Delaware Code is as follows:
- Preschool Basic Special Education: 1 unit for 8.4 students
- K-3 Regular Education: 1 unit for 16.2 students
- 4-12 Regular Education: 1 unit for 20 students
- K-12 Basic Special Education (Basic): 1 unit for 8.4 students
- Pre-K-12 Intensive Special Education (Intensive): 1 unit for 6 students
- Pre-K-12 Complex Special Education (Complex): 1 unit for 2.6 students
DOE originally budgeted for the growth of 236 units in the 2023-2024 school year, but the department is requesting 100 additional units.
"I think the majority of it has to do with the philosophy change in our nation amongst families about services for kids. When I entered education 30 years ago, many families did not want their students identified via an IEP as special ed., and today, it's the polar opposite. There are students who the schools don't believe need special support services that end up in challenging conversations with families about supports," Holodick says.
DOE is requesting over $10 million to support additional funding units for the 2023-2024 school year and over $23 million in projected unit growth for the 2024-2025 school year.
The governor's recommended budget also includes all of the Public Education Compensation Committee's (PECC) salary increases, except for the creation of a new funding structure to help schools employ information technology specialists.
Holodick says he is "ecstatic" with the governor's commitment to the PECC recommendations, and he anticipates the next administration will look into supporting the funding structure of adding an IT unit once the necessary statutory changes are made.
