Okay, maybe the last article wasn’t as top-secret as I thought, but I’m willing to bet this one is! This was sent to me anonymously today. Apparently it was sent out to the legislators in the House of Representatives from State Rep. Melanie Smith who is also the Chair of the Joint Finance Committee. It is the Delaware Joint Finance Committee’s take on the Delaware DOE’s state budget hearing that took place last Wednesday, February 17th.
Department of Education
Under the recommended school district operations budget, the budget request included reallocating money from the General Contingency (not new money) as well as additional funding (new money in this year’s budget) to cover actual unit growth for the 15/16 school year. The budgeted unit growth was 110 while the actual unit growth is 188. When questioned about the difference in the budgeted amount versus the actual amount, Secretary Godowsky explained that the increase was not due to an unprecedented influx of students, but rather an increase in the number of students being identified as having special needs. Out of the 1,075 new students, 848 were identified as having special needs, dictating a higher than expected unit count. The number also includes special needs students who are not new to the public school system, but entered 4th grade and began receiving more comprehensive special education. Secretary Godowsky told the committee that the Department had hired UD to do a study on this recent trend so that they can better understand whether this pattern is the “new normal.”
The committee deferred discussion of the $6M in the Governor’s recommended budget for the WEIC plan until after learning the result of Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting.
$4M was requested in the Governor’s recommended budget to support the Teacher Compensation committee’s recommendations to increase entry level salaries for teachers, a pilot for teacher-leader roles, and to provide stipends for educators who attain National Board Teaching Certification. It was noted that the committee’s recommendations are not final yet and that the changes are contingent upon legislation being enacted.
The committee also heard a presentation from Susan Perry-Manning, the Director of the Office of Early Learning within DOE. The presentation advocated for the $11.335M in the Governor’s recommended budget to replace the expiring federal Early Learning Challenge Grant with state general fund dollars. Most of the funds would go towards purchase of care reimbursements. Director Perry-Manning noted that the amount requested from the state is significantly less than the federal grant amount.
The Season Of Myths 