The COVID Context: Delaware’s Falling School Enrollment
For the first time in a decade, Delaware public school enrollment has dropped. This trend spans the country—just one of the many shakeups caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Delaware, enrollment triggers a handful of important policy and budgetary questions. A drop in public school enrollment brings many concerns with it, such as: a...
Breaking Down Gov. Carney’s 2021 State of the State
This week, Governor John Carney delivered his State of the State address and presented his FY22 recommended budget.
Gov. Carney started the education portion of his address by thanking the hard work and dedication of educators, school leaders, child care providers, and all school staff during the pandemic. He acknowledged that they continue...
Why Are We Still Doing Referendums?
Public school finance spins a complex and intricate web of policy decisions. When we’ve written about Delaware school funding and funding equity in the past, we’ve focused on resource allocation, how we count students, and property reassessment. Yet another important piece of the puzzle is the local tax rate and school...
Why Delaware Should Update How it Funds Child Care
Affordable child care is an evergreen issue that predates COVID-19. But as we wrote in September, the pandemic forced many child care centers to severely limit their enrollment or close their doors entirely. Delaware’s child care centers have relied on federal CARES funding to support centers and families through “enhanced”...