Delaware test scores have fallen to the bottom of the heap since 2019, with some worse than any other state, according to the Nation’s Report Card, which was released Monday. From 2019 to 2022, the average scores for Delaware fourth-graders on the math assessment dropped by 14 points, the steepest of any state. “In Delaware specifically, our scores were decimated,” …
State teachers’ union asks for base pay hike
Delaware’s teacher union proposed a new salary schedule Monday that includes a base pay of $60,000. Of that base pay, $42,000 would come from the state — $12,000 more than it’s currently paying. Under the plan, teacher salaries would be raised over three years, costing the state $134.5 million in total. By the final year, total teacher salaries would cost …
Milford’s Ashley Lockwood named 2023 teacher of year
Ashley Lockwood, a fifth-grade teacher at Lulu Ross Elementary in Milford School District, has been named the 2023 Delaware Teacher of the Year. “Teaching children has been one of the greatest blessings and gifts that God has ever given me, and for that, I will be forever grateful,” Lockwood said during the award ceremony Tuesday night. “Thank you to my …
Great Oaks Charter’s low enrollment leads to state review
Concerns about enrollment numbers at Great Oaks Charter School in Wilmington have triggered a formal review by the Delaware Department of Education. The school serves eighth through twelfth grade and has a student body of more than 80% Black students. The review will be conducted by the Charter School Accountability Committee to determine if Great Oaks has violated terms of …
Learning Collab officials want deal signed before November
Wilmington Learning Collaborative officials are asking its member districts for a definitive vote by the end of October. “We have asked for a vote in October because we really need to get the board appointed, get the executive director hired, and that’s going to take some time,” said Jon Sheehan, chief of policy and senior advisor to the governor, during …
A look at Brandywine’s city vs. suburban test scores
A look at the test scores of Brandywine School District’s elementary schools shows why the state is focusing only on Wilmington children in its proposal for a program to raise student achievement in the city. Brandywine school board member Kristin Pidgeon this week questioned why Brandywine’s other eight elementaries – all in suburban schools – are not included in the …
School boards lay out worries, support for Learning Collaborative
A joint meeting Tuesday of the Brandywine, Christina and Red Clay school districts about the Wilmington Learning Collaborative featured a lively discussion, but still no vote. The 21 board members were joined by Gov. John Carney, Education Secretary Mark Holodick and other key education officials. While no one outright opposed the learning collaborative, some expressed concern about the …
Schools start Tuesday, and ‘kids can be kids’ again
Caesar Rodney School District students will be the first to return to school this fall, heading back on Tuesday, Aug. 23. Others such as Colonial start next week, but the majority head back after Labor Day. For the first time since March 2020, the spectre of COVID-19 will be shoved into the coat closet and largely left there. “Kids can …
Here’s why state wants advice on school funding
The Delaware Department of Education announced last week it has hired a Virginia consultant to study the state’s public education funding system. As today’s wisecracker would say: Good luck with that. How the money trickles down to the classroom is complex, and it follows a funding system established in the 1940s. The state’s population then was 286,000, compared to today’s …
Learning Collab districts to meet; test scores for city schools
Brandywine, Red Clay and Christina school districts will meet Aug. 30 with the Department of Education and the governor’s office to discuss joining the Wilmington Learning Collaborative. The announcement came at Brandywine’s school board meeting Monday, where the district once again delayed a vote on whether to join. Board President John Skrobot III said that the date is tentative and …