A report on school funding will be sent to the state in the fall.

State to get advice on improving school funding in fall

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Delaware will have recommendations on how to improve their public school funding formula sometime this fall. Drew Atchison, senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research, shared the project timeline during an equity in education seminar Friday hosted by the Vision Coalition of Delaware, a public-private partnership composed of a broad range of Delawareans who work together to improve the …

Maanvi Sarwadi, left, and Runyl Liu will head to West Virginia this summer for a national science camp.

2 Del. students head to National Science Camp, STEM careers

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Newark Charter High School junior Runyl Liu said her passion for science comes from a middle school jingle she heard.  “We heard this one song about the periodic table and I just really liked the song,” Liu said. “I sort of fell in love with the periodic table and all how chemistry works. It was a very, very odd journey, …

Appo will buy metal/weapon detectors for all 3 of its high schools. (Photo from Evolv)

Appo to lease weapon detectors amid schools’ focus on safety

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Appoquinimink School District’s vote this week to install weapon detectors is the latest move by Delaware schools to combat violence and the presence of guns. It’s an issue that’s plagued schools since fall, with the latest incident occurring Wednesday when a Sussex Central High School student was found with a firearm on school property.  The student was taken into custody …

The Senate voted unanimously on almost every bill Thursday. (Pexels)

Senators unanimously agree on 14 of 15 bills Thursday

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Government

It was a day of unanimous votes for the Delaware Senate Thursday, with 14 of the 15 items  passed without any ‘no’ votes. Sen. Darius Brown, D-Wilmington, was the only legislator to vote against House Substitute 1 for House Bill 34, a law that would require school boards from district and charter schools to hold public comment on each agenda …

HB 81 would permit school districts to deny bussing charter students.

Bill lets districts say no to busing some charter students

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

A bill giving school districts power to tell charter schools to transport students living within the district passed through the House Education Committee Wednesday. House Bill 81, sponsored by Rep. Kim Williams, D-Marshallton, the chair of the committee, could force charters to privately contract their own buses to bring students within a district to the schools. Rep. Rich Collins, R-Millsboro, …

SB 61 would increase the number of personal sick days for teachers and other school employees from 3 to 5. (Pexels)

Education leaders fight bills adding days off for teachers

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Bills that would expand the reasons and days for teachers to take days off from work divided legislators and public commenters in the Senate Education Committee Wednesday. Senate Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Laura Sturgeon, D-Hockessin, who is chair of the committee, would give teachers and other school employees the same protection to be absent without a loss of pay …

The Senate voted to lower the workload for Division of Family Services caseworkers.

Senate votes to ease workload of Family Service workers

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Government

Case workers for the Division of Family Services could soon be getting a reduced workload. The Delaware Senate voted Tuesday to approve a recommendation made by the Child Protection Accountability Commission to drop the number of families that case workers follow from 18 to 12. Senate Bill 33, sponsored by Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, D-Arden, would act on the commission’s …

The Public Education Compensation Committee will recommend a four-year timeline to increase teacher's starting salary. (Pexels)

Heated debate ends in vote to raise teacher pay over 4 years

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Defying the demands of the  state teachers union, a committee formed to make recommendations on educator pay voted Monday to bring teacher’s starting salary to $60,000 over four years rather than three.  The four-year plan will consist of a 2% salary increase and a flat dollar increase of $1,875 to the base salary for teachers, nurses and administrators each year …

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative hopes to get more candidates for its executive director position. (Unsplash)

Learning Collab extends director application indefinitely

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

With only seven applicants for executive director, the Wilmington Learning Collaborative council voted Thursday to extend the application deadline indefinitely. It was to have ended by March 23, with the post being filled by June 1.  The council also discussed whether to alert the current applicants that the deadline was being extended, whether to post the job ad in Ed …

Jennae Overton has been selected by the Business Professionals of America to serve as the president of the 2023-2024 State Officer Leadership Team.

Middletown student to lead Business Professionals of America

Jarek Rutz Headlines, Education

Middletown High School junior Jennae Overton has been selected by the Business Professionals of America to serve as the president of the 2023-2024 State Officer Leadership Team. Overton believes she was a great candidate for the presidential role because of her involvement in her school newspaper, Future Farmers of America, golf and the Black Student Union. “Newspaper taught me to …