State ofDelaware,
Office of the Governor
Wednesday, March 4,
2009
Markell Education Reform Agenda Supports Educators,
Fosters Innovation, Demands
Accountability
Lt. Governor
Denn and Secretary Lowery launch "Back to School Briefings" across the state to
get citizen input, advice and recommendations to impact the reform
plan
DOVER
Governor Jack Markell today unveiled his education reform agenda for his first
year in office. If enacted, his plan would give school districts more
flexibility to innovate, offer teachers additional rewards for excellence and
introduce greater accountability by replacing the Delaware Student Testing
Program, DSTP, with a system that more accurately measures student
progress.
"We have the ability to make our state's education
system one of the best in the world but that kind of progress demands that we
think differently about how we measure and achieve success. It demands that we
do more with the limited resources we have and encourage innovation," Markell
said. "This reform agenda gives districts room to innovate, instills greater
accountability and rewards results for success."
In a break with tradition, after announcing the agenda
but before releasing draft legislation for it, the Governor has asked Lt.
Governor Matt Denn and Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery to hold a series of
"Back to School" briefings with citizens across the state to elicit honest
feedback, record suggestions on how the agenda might be improved and discuss the
details with the people who will need to implement the policies if enacted.
"The decisions we make today will be felt for
generations. Our economic growth and prosperity for the future depend largely on
the quality education we offer now. It will take everyone working together to
make this a reality. The Governor asked us to hold these meetings across the
state to get an honest assessment of how to make this plan as strong as
possible," Denn said.
Lowery, who was previously Superintendent of the
Christina School
District, said "the additional
flexibility is what school districts have asked for and need in order to meet
the challenge of improving individual performance at a time when budgets are so
tight."
To make the
discussion even more open and accessible, Lieutenant Governor Denn is creating a
webpage where Delawareans can participate in the discussion from home. Citizens
will be able to see the meeting schedule, listen to podcasts of the meetings,
and submit feedback. The webpage will be activated on Wednesday, and will be
hosted on the Lieutenant Governor's website
http://ltgov.delaware.gov/
"For our state to have the future we all want it to
have, we need to make our strong education system even stronger," Markell said.
"This agenda will help deliver the kind of change our system needs to prepare
students to become active citizens and succeed in an increasingly competitive
economy."
The reform agenda's four major
aspects are:
A.
Replacing the DSTP with a better system for measuring
performance. This agenda
requires that a replacement for the DSTP be in place by the 2010 to 2011 school
year. It would offer as a replacement an
assessment that actually measures the progress of each child during each school
year. The requirements for the new test would correspond to the specifications
that the state assessment task force has developed for the new test.
B.
Rewarding great teachers and those who volunteer to
serve in at risk districts.
The state
already provides salary enhancements for teachers who seek professional
development opportunities and achieve advanced degrees. The agenda would
build the framework so that when the budget situation improves, the state can
add financial rewards for high performing teachers who teach in 'high
risk' schools, schools under NCLB review and high poverty schools, and offer
salary supplements for teachers whose students show objective improvement based
upon our new state assessment over the course of a school year. We will seek to
establish the formula for this new salary structure this year and put it into
action when funds become available.
C.
Cutting cumbersome regulations to give districts the
chance to innovate and allow them
more decision making discretion. This enhances local decision making in two
ways. First, it eliminates
state mandates with respect to many subjects outside of traditional ones such as
math, reading, writing, and social studies. Districts and schools could
still include these other subjects in their curriculum, but they would have
greater flexibility in how they were offered so resources could be reprogrammed
to meet needs like math and reading. Second, it
provides a mechanism by which individual schools and individual districts can
promptly seek relief from regulations, procedures, or policies that impede their
ability to meet the needs of their students.
D.
Allowing Districts and Schools More
Funding Discretion. The agenda moves decisions about what is best for students
out to the people closest to the students, individual schools and
districts, by giving greater flexibility on how state dollars are spent in
schools. This flexibility is balanced by three new provisions of law to
ensure great accountability. First, the state Department of Education must
approve district budgets, and is assigned to do so with an eye to two criteria:
compliance with state and federal law, and appropriate use of funds for
instruction related purposes. Second, it requires a heightened level of
financial transparency by districts. And third, it requires each district
to set up a standing civilian financial review
committee.
The plan was met with enthusiastic support from Senator
David Sokola, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, and Representative Terry
Schooley, Chair of the House Education Committee.
"The Governor deserves credit for remaining focused on
these issues during these difficult times and for having these open meetings to
discuss Delaware's education future. Education largely
lost its place in the forefront of the national debate the last few years but
education is the most critical factor in determining the course of our next
several years as a state and a nation," Sokola
said.
"Governor Markell's reform agenda gets all the big
things right and is willing to listen to make sure the small things get done
right, too. It takes seriously problems like the achievement gap that have
plagued our state for too long," Schooley said. "Education is the straightest
path out of child poverty, which the KIDS Count data shows is a major hurdle to
the next generation's success."
Back to School
Briefings
Monday, March 9th 1-3pm,
Dover, Tatnall Building
Topic: Rewarding great teachers and those who volunteer to
serve in at-risk districts
Tuesday, March 10th 1-3pm,
Wilmington, Carvel Building
Topic: Rewarding great teachers and those who volunteer to
serve in at-risk districts
Wednesday, March 11th
7pm-9pm, Dover, Tatnall Building
Topic:
Replacing the DSTP with a
better system for measuring performance.
Thursday March 12th
7pm-9pm, Wilmington, Carvel Building
Topic: Replacing the DSTP with a better system for measuring
performance.
Friday March 13th 1-3pm, 2 The
Circle, Georgetown, Sussex County Administrative Office Building,
Council Chambers
Topic:
Cutting cumbersome regulations to give districts the
chance to innovate and allow them
more decision-making discretion.
Week of
March 16
Monday, March 16th 11am-1pm, Wilmington, Carvel Building
Topic: Cutting cumbersome regulations to give districts the
chance to innovate and allow them
more decision-making discretion.
Tuesday, March 17th 11am-1pm,
Dover, Tatnall Building
Topic: Allowing Districts and Schools More Funding
Discretion
Wednesday, March 18th 11am-1pm,
Wilmington, Carvel Building
Topic: Allowing Districts and Schools More Funding
Discretion
Thursday, March 19th 11am-1pm,
Dover, Tatnall Building
Topic: Suggestions for
Additions
Friday, March 20th 11am-1pm, 2 The Circle,
Georgetown, Sussex County
Administrative Office Building,
Council Chambers
Topic: Suggestions for
Additions
