Laws that would establish a Bill of Rights for student loan borrowers and adjust the transfer of leave days for educators garnered support in a Senate Education Committee hearing Wednesday. Senate Bill 132, sponsored by Sen. Sarah McBride, D-Wilmington, would make Delaware the 19th state to have a Bill of Rights for student loan burrowers. Of the 18 states who …
Delaware state senators and representatives didn’t revolt when they got their first bite at recommendations for higher educator pay that would cost the state hundreds of millions in coming years. But questions did arise in Thursday’s joint House And Senate Education committees meeting that lasted about 1 ¼ hours. They included concern about poorer districts’ ability to pay their 30% …
Kim Patterson Luton of Dover got a Christmas present nobody would want: A letter detailing the new reassessment of her family’s property. The letter, which arrived in mid-December, concerned property built in 2005 and long assessed at $59,300. Under the new evaluation, her home is assessed at an eye-popping $419,300. “My husband and I are seniors and living on fixed …
Delaware’s General Assembly will have its first public look and discussion about proposed educator pay raise recommendations next week. At 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, the House and Senate education committees will come together to listen to a presentation on the final report from the Public Education Compensation Committee. Watch the meeting here. The 15-person compensation committee – made of …
Delaware Democrats filed new legislation Thursday that would enhance patient access to medical marijuana and revamp the framework of the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act. House Bill 285, sponsored by Rep. Ed Osienski, D-Newark, would remove the requirement that a patient must have a debilitating medical condition to qualify for a registry identification card. Instead, health-care providers would determine whether a …
A long-awaited report release from the American Institutes for Research on school funding has shown that Delaware needs to allocate anywhere from $590 million to $1 billion more into education. That’s between a 27% and 46% increase from the multi-billion dollar investment the state already has in public education, which is typically about a third of the state budget. The …
The State Board of Education voted in its monthly meeting Thursday night on Social Studies Student Assessment Performance Levels. These are also referred to as “cut scores.” Achievement levels Students can land in one of four achievement levels on the standardized tests. Level 1: Students show minimum understanding and evidence of an inability to apply the fundamental skills and knowledge …
Six Delaware State Senate Republicans on Thursday asked Gov. John Carney to immediately remove Delaware Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse following an ethics report that said he violated state bidding processes. The Public Integrity Commission released a report saying Scuse improperly used $100,000 in taxpayer money to employees of the department to house seized farm animals without public notice or a public …
Six Democratic state legislators are sponsoring legislation that would require all public schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students. House Bill 125, whose primary sponsor is Rep. Sherae’a Moore, D-Middletown, was introduced in April, but never heard by the General Assembly, which returns to session in January. Moore declined an interview to discuss the bill. The bill …
Gov. John Carney has signed a law requiring a state agency for child services to explore joining a federal program that aims to find permanent housing solutions for foster children. Senate Joint Resolution 1, from Sen. Eric Buckson, R-Dover, and Rep. Kim Williams, D-Stanton, directs the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families to consider participating in the …
