‘Politically viable’: Commission approves new framework for Delaware school funding formula as bigger decisions loom

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

The Public Education Funding Commission recently voted on a set of recommendations to change Delaware’s school funding formula, but big questions loom over what a new funding formula will look like and how much additional money, if any, state lawmakers are prepared to invest in the education system.

Commissioners approved moving from a unit-based system to a hybrid model where funding would be weighted with additional money for students with higher needs using a block grant approach. The commission also recommended a three-to-five-year implementation plan, which considers additional revenue to support it. It would include a “hold harmless” caveat so no district would lose funding.

Some education advocates say they’re disappointed it took nine months for the commission to come up with a framework. The earliest implementation funding could be added would be in the fiscal year 2027 budget.

“We’re making it complicated because we’re afraid there’s going to be winners and losers,” Christina School Board member Monica Moriak said. “Well, we already have winners and losers. Question is, do we agree that those who are losing, the children not learning, are the ones we want to keep losing?”

Nearly five years after the state settled a lawsuit over inequities in Delaware’s public education system, it continues to fail students. Delaware ranks 45 out of all 50 states, according to data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a charitable foundation. The 2024 results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, shows 75% of fourth graders in the state are below proficient in reading and 82% of eighth graders can’t do math at grade level.

Gov. Matt Meyer declared a “literacy emergency” earlier this year and state lawmakers have included $8 million for an emergency literacy fund in the fiscal year 2026 budget.

Civil rights groups sued the state in 2018, alleging the state was underfunding schools with higher populations of low-income students, English language learners and students with disabilities. They settled in 2020, with the promise of adding significantly more money into the system.

A report by the American Institutes for Research assessing the state’s education system as part of the settlement found Delaware was underfunding underserved students by $600 million to $1 billion.

The timeline for creating a new funding formula has slipped almost since the start, frustrating some following the process. The 31-member commission, which includes lawmakers, executive branch officials, teachers, principals, school administrators and community advocates, has been meeting since September 2024.

It had a mandate to make its first recommendations on public education funding by October 2025. But Chairperson state Sen. Laura Sturgeon, D-Brandywine Hundred, amended the resolution authorizing the group so that preliminary recommendations were due by October and final recommendations by July 2026 after pushback from commissioners.

American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware Legal Director Dwayne Bensing was one of the lawyers who sued the state in 2018. He said he’s frustrated the commission decided to keep elements of the resource-based system instead of moving to a pure student-based system where the money follows the child.

Delaware’s funding formula dates back to the 1940s. Its resource-based model converts the number of children in each building into units, which determines how much money a district receives to pay for teachers, paraprofessions, other expenses and “equalization.” That helps poorer school districts level up with wealthier school districts that get more local property tax revenue. The formula accounts for special education students, but not for low-income students or English Language Learners.

“I’m discouraged that it is a step back from what Matt Meyer committed to as a candidate for governor,” Bensing said. “Particularly because of the concerns about the inequities baked into unit funding and then also the lack of transparency with unit funding.”

Meyer campaigned on implementing a weighted funding formula based on dollars instead of positions, increasing transparency, investing $3,400 to $6,400 more per pupil and making sure low-income students, those with disabilities and English language learners, had enough resources. He told WHYY News in February that he wanted to see a new formula in place by the start of the 2025-2026 school year.

He appeared to soften that position in April during his joint address to the General Assembly, when he called on lawmakers to pass a funding framework before session ended June 30. The commission added meetings in an attempt to produce something concrete lawmakers could approve, but Sturgeon said Meyer was no longer asking lawmakers to pass a resolution.

“Gov. Meyer is really happy with the progress we made, with the fact that we’ve put forth these five recommendations, and that they passed unanimously,” she said. “The resolution just basically would repeat exactly what the recommendations were anyway, it doesn’t necessarily add any more urgency or any more validity to the decision that was made. So it’s kind of generally now thought that it’s not necessary.”

Meyer issued a statement after the commission approved the recommendations and said headway is being made after decades of inaction.

“While the work is far from done, the show of support tonight demonstrates that change is possible on this issue,” Meyer said. “I asked for progress by this summer and the members of the PEFC delivered.”

The commission had looked at a model during its April 28 meeting with different weights and funding amounts of $200 million, $600 million and $1 billion, based on the American Institutes for Research recommendations, and how it might impact seven different schools under the hybrid model.

Taylor Hawk, a commissioner and director of legislative and political strategy for the Delaware State Education Association, said teachers like aspects of the resources-based formula.

“We believe that the unit count system that we have today absolutely needs to be updated and revamped,” she said. “But the funding for educator salaries that is provided through the unit count does have advantages in terms of predictability and stability.”

Sturgeon said that the commission wants to give more money to low-income students and multilingual learners, while continuing to adequately fund all the other students, including students with disabilities. But that means injecting more money or taking money from districts with lower populations of those students and giving it to those with higher populations.

“That would not be politically viable,” she said. “Imagine all the legislators who happen to represent districts that would lose money.”

Some commission members remain unconvinced that more money is the answer. State Rep. Kim Williams, D-Stanton, is co-chair of the powerful joint budget writing committee as well as chair of the House Education Committee. She said she is doubtful about the amount of money the American Institutes for Research report said Delaware is underfunding public education.

“Do I think another $1 billion needs to be infused? No,” she said. “Do I think we need another half billion? No. I think by using a hybrid model, we can make sure that those dollars are more aligned with the students that need extra resources, without taking away from those who do not need them.”

Bensing told WHYY News in February that the American Institutes for Research report was a direct result of the civil rights litigation because among the parties, including the governor’s office, there was an open question about how much money it would take for the state to reach the constitutional mandate to provide an adequate education. So they engaged experts to determine what funding would be required for Delaware schools to equitably and adequately educate students.

“This wasn’t like some voluntary think piece about people who believe in big government spending, what would they do in a dream world,” he said. “Even if you want to count the progress that we’ve made — that incremental change over the last four years, since the litigation and the settlement. The increase in opportunity funds, it’s still not nearly enough.”

Kendall Massett, executive director of the Delaware Charter School Network, had been advocating for a student-based formula. She said she considers the support for a hybrid framework progress.

“I think it is a stop in where we need to get to in the long run,” she said. “But just continuing to have the same argument over and over again means that our students have to wait and that’s not good for anybody.”

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.