The Wilmington Learning Collaborative faces an uphill battle after the governor proposed an 80% funding cut for Fiscal Year 2027.
Delaware’s Department of Education presented its first strategic plan in years on Tuesday, which included more than $20 million worth of program cuts.
Among the proposed cuts is a decrease in support for the WLC, from $10 million this year to $2 million in the coming fiscal year. But DOE expected the Collaborative to have $2 million carryover from this year’s funding – giving the group $4 million to work with in FY 27.
WLC Executive Director Laura Burgos said she believes Gov. Meyer’s proposed budget doesn’t account for a whole year of WLC needs.
“The proposed budget was released late January, so that number did not account for the expenses that we have through the end of January through June,” Burgos said. “So we're talking about six months of expenses.”
Burgos added the $2 million in carryover funds identified by the DOE are actually closer to $1.6 million, according to WLC estimates. That could mean that the group will effectively have more than $6 million less to work with next year.
Gov. Meyer’s proposed budget also called for the Redding Consortium and WLC to coordinate to avoid overlapping programs and efforts.
WLC Chair Helen Anderson said at Wednesday’s meeting she wasn’t comfortable voting on a budget without more answers on the carryover total.
“My focus is women and children, and are we going to be losing valuable service [and] supports that our children who – I don't, I don't know what our end is,” Anderson said. “But I'm not comfortable saying I'm good with just [cutting] our kids.”
WLC members acknowledged the group could be entirely defunded by the state at some point and there’s no way out of a reduction this year.
They have been asked to approve $2 million in new funding for Fiscal Year 2027. WLC members decided to table that vote and seek further discussion with lawmakers to “give them a complete picture” of their responsibilities.
