Delaware's Department of Education published the state's 2022 test scores Tuesday.

2022 Rewind: State education test scores described as ‘crisis’ 

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

This story was originally published in August 2022. Delaware’s 2022 test scores were released this August, and they aren’t pretty.  Just 30% of Delaware students in grades three to eight met grade-level math requirements, while 42% earned a proficient score in English language arts.  These scores come from the state-administered Smarter Balanced Assessment, an end-of-the-year summative test that measures the …

Great Oaks Charter School will continue operating. ((GREAT OAKS CHARTER SCHOOL – WILMINGTON FACEBOOK)

State Board: Great Oaks Charter will not be shut down

Jarek RutzEducation, Headlines

Great Oaks Charter School, a Wilmington charter serving a student body of more than 80% Black students, will not be shut down. After nearly three months of being placed on formal review by the Charter School Accountability Committee, Education Secretary Mark Holidick recommended Thursday night to the Delaware State Board of Education to allow the school to continue operating. The …

Many First State teachers got their wish Monday as the Public Education Compensation Committee decided to move its meetings back to a later start time. (Unsplash)

Teacher’s union gets 1 wish: Pay committee moves meeting 

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Delaware’s state teachers union got one of its wishes Monday when the state committee charged with adjusting the salaries of public school workers announced it will push its monthly meeting back an hour. Mark Holodick, education secretary and chair of the Public Education Compensation Committee said at the start of Monday’s regular meeting that starting next month, the committee will …

The state teachers union is calling for Public Education Compensation Committee meetings to be moved to later in the day in order to allow more teachers to attend. (Freepik)

Teachers union calls for pay committee to #MoveTheMeeting

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Delaware’s teachers union is circulating a petition that demands a state compensation committee move its monthly meeting time an hour later so teachers can attend. Right now, the Public Education Compensation Committee, which is considering raises for teachers and other school workers, meets at 3:30 p.m. Lack of teacher voice “If you want to hear from educators, hold meetings when …

The Department of Education has released its 20 district and charter schools educator support professionals of the year. (Unsplash)

State to honor school workers who keep systems running

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The 20 individuals who have been named as Educational Support Professionals of the Year are the “glue that keeps our schools together.” “Educating kids through teachers is the goal and the mission of schools,” said John Marinucci, executive director of the Delaware School Board Association, “but the support folks handle all the things that have to take place around the …

The Learning Collab needs to fill out the remaining seats of its governing council and conduct a needs assessment of each school. (Pexels)

Here’s what the Learning Collab will do to get started

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Wilmington Learning Collaborative already is forming the council that will govern it. Once the council is established, it will order a needs assessment, which will help the council decide where to put or share resources. Those are the starting tasks of the new education group that state, city and district officials hope will help raise learning and test scores …

Great Oaks Behavioral Specialist Shaun Cooper addresses the crowd of parents, teachers and students. (Jarek Rutz/Delaware LIVE News)

Emotional Great Oaks community pleads for school survival 

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

Great Oaks Charter parents, students and teachers laughed, cried and pleaded with an Education Department representative Thursday for the survival of their school. “What real love means is we bear all things, because these are just kids,” said math teacher Anthony Davis, choking up with tears. “These students come to Great Oaks and we see the best in them, not …

There are more than 70 libraries across the state that share 2.5 million ebooks and print books for the benefit of Delawareans.

Delaware to add school libraries into statewide catalog

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

The Delaware Library Consortium announced Tuesday that it will spend $1 million to add school libraries into the statewide catalog. The goal is to broaden the First State’s library catalog and provide more students an opportunity to conduct research or read for pleasure. “Over the years it seems like everything around literacy has been tweaked except school libraries, until now,” …

Delaware students performed worse on math tests in the past three years than any other state.

Report: Delaware math, reading scores drop tops state lists

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

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,” …

Delaware's teacher union wants the state to follow Maryland's lead and start teachers' salary at $60,000.

State teachers’ union asks for base pay hike

Jarek RutzHeadlines, Education

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 …