Two bills to begin efforts to school funding reform to Delaware get their first hearing at Leg Hall. Both bills now head to the Senate Finance Committee.
One bill, SB 302, seeks approval of the Public Education Funding Commission’s new hybrid model for funding schools. The other, SB 303, codifies the PEFC into state law, keeping the body intact.
The new model consolidates funding streams and increases per pupil spending on vulnerable groups. An independent study in 2023 found the state needs to invest between $600 million to one billion dollars more in education to meet those groups’ needs.
But during a Senate Education Committee hearing, State Sen. Dave Lawson (R-Marydel) argued education is already a large taxpayer expense.
"I just don't know how much more the taxpayer can take," Lawson said. "And where are you going to find a million dollars or another billion dollars to fund education in this state, when they're already hit pretty hard, especially with the assessment."
Sturgeon (D-Brandywine Hundred West), the PEFC and senate education chair, said the commission worked with stakeholders over the last two years on the plan, adding the funding increase won’t be immediate.
"We will also spend this year speaking with the governor's office and hopefully convincing the governor to build into his recommended budget the monies needed to start implementing the formula," Sturgeon said.
Increased per pupil funding for English language learners, special education students, and students from low income families would start in the 2027-2028 school year. And the PEFC will add a revised equalization formula and weights for other student groups in 2028-2029.
State Senator Nicole Poore (D- South New Castle) sits on the Senate Education Committee and gave the new approach her support. She said it's not a perfect model, but the state needs a comprehensive update to the funding model it set approximately 80 years ago.
"We have to actually put pen to paper and start moving forward with this," Poore said.
The PEFC said compared to surrounding states, Delaware spends less per pupil.
But Senator Eric Buckson (R-Camden) pushed back on this, and said Delaware should be "exceptionally cautious" when comparing The First State's spending to other parts of the region.
"We're not the same," he said. "Wo when we say that their per pay per student is this– and ours is this; there's a reason for that. It's what we're able to afford with the money we currently have."
Missouri's Economic Research and Data Center said Delaware's cost of living in 2025 was less than New Jersey and Maryland's, but more than Pennsylvania's.
United Way's ALICE report, which measures income-constrained households by state, said Delaware ranks straight down the middle for percentage of ALICE households. But it was also one of the states with the largest increase in low-salary households, along with Utah, Texas, Florida, and Idaho.
