It’s back-to-school time in Delaware, but just as students re-enter the classroom, the Department of Education announced math and reading proficiency rates only rose 1% for 3-8 graders last school year.
“That could be a rounding error. That’s like no growth. It’s not going backwards, but it’s not the kind of growth that Delaware students deserve. And frankly, what I’ve seen in terms of some of the bright spots where there is possibility for growth, I want to see more of that,” Delaware’s Secretary of Education Cindy Marten said.
The small increase puts the state at a 41% English proficiency rate and a 34% math proficiency rate, still keeping the scores well below pre-pandemic levels.
In January, Gov. Matt Meyer and Secretary of Education Cindy Marten declared a statewide literacy emergency and secured $8 million in this year’s state budget to create an Early Literacy Emergency Fund.
Marten says it’s time to make change, and she’s hoping this investment can bring more support to the classrooms to ensure students are getting the help they need.
“What we need is to build the systems of excellence day-by-day in the classroom, so teachers get real-time feedback in their teaching, and that you’re building time for teachers to work together, to be able to look at real-time data on students and not wait for the end of the year assessment. That’s too late to do anything about it,” Secretary Marten said.
$1.5 million will be used for early literacy coaches and $6.5 million will be reserved for district and charter competitive grants known as Bridge to Practice Grants to support literacy systems and collaborative staffing models.
An additional $3 million was allocated to fund teacher-driven projects, allowing teachers to request funding for classroom needs as they see fit.
While Secretary Marten is hopeful about these immediate investments, Delaware’s outdated and inequitable funding formula remains in place. The Public Education Funding Commission (PEFC) is currently exploring how to overhaul the state’s current framework, but following reassessment fallout, some legislators tried to take matters into their own hands.
Under current law, school districts can raise revenues by up to 10% following a reassessment. Some have, adding to widespread tax bill hikes for residents mainly in New Castle County.Legislation was introduced to alter that ability, but it was not ultimately brought to the floor for discussion.
Secretary Marten says she believes all members of the legislature want to see better student outcomes, but she cautions against piecemeal legislative efforts.
“Looking at a piece of it, while that piece, if you get that figured out, no matter where you land on the opinion, should you go this way or should you go that way, my only thought or contribution to it would be make decisions based on what the top of the puzzle box looks like, not one piece at a time,” she said.
Secretary Marten says her focus right now is not necessarily adding more money into the education system, but rather ensuring current funds are being used effectively and creating a hybrid weighted funding formula so students with the greatest need receive more resources.
“My eye is on the prize of equitable outcomes that are funded equitably for students. And you don’t start with, ‘We need more money for education.’ You start with, ‘How are we using the money that we have to produce the equitable outcomes that we deserve?’ That Delaware students deserve. And some of the money that we are allocating to schools is based on a system that at its base was off kilter because the property taxes were wrong. So then you’ve had to layer on an unstable base. So we’re actually going back to that, and let’s build stronger from the start,” she said, referring to the reassessment process across all three counties coming close to a close.
The Public Education Funding Commission’s next meeting is slated for Sept. 8, where the body will continue to flesh out what’s Delaware’s new weighted funding formula will look like.
