A Direct to Classroom funding program in Gov. Meyer’s Early Literacy Plan has already spent most of its 3-million-dollar budget.
The state originally allocated nearly $3 million dollars to the literacy focused program, which allows teachers to apply for $750 dollar grants to fund educational projects and materials they would otherwise have to pay for themselves.
Just a few weeks after launching, the program is down to around $400 thousand dollars, and funding will now prioritize a select number of schools identified as “high need”
Delaware Education Secretary Cindy Marten says where there is greater need, there needs to be greater investment.
“And the greater need looks at the different subgroups. Lower income students, students with disabilities, students with diverse backgrounds, multi-lingual learners. The overall academic performance of those schools, when you look at the academic achievement levels at this point, you want to make sure the dollars are being directed into those highest need schools” she told DPM.
Marten notes around 40% of teachers in the First State have taken advantage of the program.
“Their testimony on this and their support of it is really amazing, some of the letters that we’ve received about ‘this is truly impacted my classroom and how we prepare students for the working world.’ ” she said.
Teachers can design their own projects to boost literacy across several subjects, and the state has a list of project suggestions curated by Delaware classroom teachers.
The program comes as part of the Governor's Delaware Early Literacy Plan, responding to Delaware's eight grade literacy scores reaching their lowest in almost three decades.
The remaining $400,000 in funding will focus on applications from teachers in high-needs schools.
Marten says it’s still unclear if the program will be offered again in the future.
