With the Department of Education poised to invest millions of additional dollars into Delaware schools with a new school funding formula, State Education Secretary Cindy Marten says the state needs to track what that investment produces.
At last week's meeting of the Public Education Funding Commission (PEFC), Marten outlined a draft accountability plan she says DOE is seeking feedback on to ensure the state's investment is produces results.
"We want measurable goals for student outcomes," she said. "The state has worked too long and too hard to pass incredible education laws."
But the plan already faces some initial pushback, including from PEFC chair, State Sen. Laura Sturgeon.
During the most recent budget cycle, the General Assembly allocated $126 million to start implementing the formula for fiscal year 2027-2028. And it will need additional money, to continue implementation in over the next two years.
DOE’s draft accountability plan has five tiers, with escalating layers of state intervention for schools that don't hit growth metrics.
Marten said no single metric would determine a school's evaluation. It would take into account attendance, ninth- grader progress in test scores, access to effective educators and coursework,
"And then we have to look at the sustained trends," she said. "No single measure is going to determine where a school falls on a tiered system."
At the lower tiers, intervention work is, "supposed to be much closer to the school."
Marten said that could include coaching, leadership support, and resource evaluation.
As a school’s needs increase, so will state involvement, Marten said. The fifth and top tier is receivership, with DOE taking over a school.
The tiered system drafted by DOE was met with skepticism during last week's PEFC meeting.
The group's chair, State Sen. Laura Sturgeon, was among those raising concerns; Sturgeon doesn't think receivership should be on the table at all. She added she appreciated Marten's receptive tone and acknowledgement that the plan put forward is a draft.
Sturgeon also presented an alternative model, "just to show that there's another way to go about this than what DOE presented."
She characterized her alternative as more circular– to indicate schools are on equal footing. And she doesn't see how a school takeover would fix a school's performance.
"I just reject out of hand the idea that a state takeover should be the pinnacle," she said.
Sturgeon said there’s no set timeline to deliver an accountability plan, but notes there’s political pressure to have one in place before the new funding formula takes effect July 2027.
PEFC is still working on additional weights for other student groups to be added in during the second year of the formula's implementation in 2028-2029.
"DOE said this was a draft and they were open to feedback," she said. "...We have to give them a chance and see what they come back with."
The Department of Education plans to meet Oct. 11 with the Delaware PTA to get feedback on its draft accountability model.
