State Representative Kevin Hensley discussed the need to change the way the First State funds its public schools in this week's GOP message.
Delaware provides funding units based on enrollment numbers and government spending for public education adds up to about 1.4 billion dollars.
Hensley says this funds about 60 percent of public education.
"However, our system is outdated," Hensley said. "Delaware is one of four states in the nation that does not provide additional funding for English language learners and one of only 15 that does not allocate extra funding for students living in poverty."
Last year, the General Assembly and Governor Markell formed a commission to help transition Delaware to a more transparent funding model; but, the commission was disrupted by concerns about streamlining the governance of Wilmington’s public school system.
Hensley says when the General Assembly meets in January, he hopes funding for Delaware’s public schools will be more closely looked at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urUlzF3_J04&feature=youtu.be
Full text of GOP Message:
I’m State Rep. Kevin Hensley.
As a former school board member, I speak from experience when I say the way in which we finance Delaware’s public schools needs to be reformed.
Generally speaking, our state government pays for about 60 percent of public education, spending nearly 1.4 billion dollars in the current budget. The feds pay for about 10 percent with local districts responsible for the remainder.
Public education financing varies widely from one state to the next. Delaware’s model, which is only used by a handful of states, is a formula-driven system that provides funding units based on enrollment numbers.
However, our system is outdated. Delaware is one of only four states in the nation that does not provide additional funding for English language learners, and one of only 15 that does not allocate extra funding for students living in poverty. Providing adequate money to help special needs students is also an ongoing concern.
Additionally, the current system restricts where state funding can be used – limiting flexibility and creativity at the local level.
Just as worrisome, it has resulted in wide disparities in student funding, with rural and urban districts often receiving fewer resources per student than their counterparts elsewhere.
The General Assembly and Gov. Jack Markell acted on this late last year by forming the Education Funding Improvement Commission. This 24-member group was charged with the thorny task of making recommendations on transitioning our state to a funding model that would provide more equity, flexibility and transparency.
While the commission met a half-dozen times, its work was ultimately disrupted by the controversy over a plan to streamline the governance of Wilmington’s public schools. Not surprisingly, many of the concerns on which the Wilmington debate continues to turn are the same funding issues the commission was attempting to resolve.
When the 149th General Assembly meets for the first time in January, we should aggressively move forward to reform our education funding system. Such work will not only remove some of the obstacles to restructuring of Wilmington’s schools, it will also improve the education environment for all schools statewide.