Legislation Document

WHEREAS, Delaware’s public education funding system (“funding system”) should support student achievement and well-being, educator recruitment and retention, and Delaware’s community, economy, and quality of life; and

WHEREAS, students’ academic and social-emotional needs post-pandemic require a comprehensive and statewide focus as districts and charter schools face a critical junction with the end of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (“ESSER”) funding assistance; and

WHEREAS, there is agreement that action should be taken to improve the funding system, including to better address student needs, increase flexibility to serve students, and address the equitable distribution of resources across districts and charter schools; and

WHEREAS, decades of progress have been made to improve components of the funding system, including adding funding to support high-need students, supports for mental health, and updating needs-based funding; and

WHEREAS, state laws and regulations for public education funding, administration, and programs have a direct impact on district and charter school funding needs and resource allocations; and

WHEREAS, as a component of the Delaware Education Funding Lawsuit Settlement, Delaware contracted with the American Institutes of Research (“AIR”) to produce the independent report, “Assessment of Delaware Public School Funding,” released in 2023, and the report made systemic recommendations to improve Delaware’s funding system to support student achievement; and

WHEREAS, also as a result of legal settlements for funding equity, each county in Delaware will complete a property tax reassessment by 2025 for the first time in decades that will impact revenue and school funding and the distribution of residential and commercial property taxation; and

WHEREAS, Delaware has opportunities to improve in the areas of student achievement, opportunities, and well-being; educator recruitment and retention; and access to high-quality pre-kindergarten for children below the age of 5; and

WHEREAS, modifications should be made to the funding system to build on existing progress and improve it further, based on research from other states, while maintaining the strengths of the current funding system; and

WHEREAS, the lack of adequate support for many students has led to conditions that are detrimental to efforts to recruit and retain teachers, resulting in a shortage of educators and a dwindling pipeline; and

WHEREAS, additional resources are required to meet the state goals, based on national research and the professional judgment of Delaware educators.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the 152nd General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the House of Representatives concurring therein, that the Public Education Funding Commission (“Commission”) is established to continue the comprehensive review of public education funding for all students and populations served by districts and charter schools, by developing a roadmap of recommendations to implement improvements to the public education funding system.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission is comprised of 31 members, as follows:

(1) The Secretary of Education, or the Secretary may designate the Deputy Secretary.

(2) The Controller General, or the Controller General may designate the Deputy Controller General.

(3) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or the Director may designate the Deputy Director.

(4) The Chair of the Senate Education Committee.

(5) The Chair of the House Education Committee.

(6) A member of the minority caucus of the Senate, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(7) A member of the minority caucus of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(8) The President of the Delaware State Education Association, or the President’s designee.

(9) The Executive Director of the Delaware Association of School Administrators, or the Executive Director’s designee.

(10) The President of the Delaware Chief School Officers Association of the Delaware Association of School Administrators, or the President’s designee.

(11) The Executive Director of the Delaware School Boards Association, or the Executive Director’s designee.

(12) Three school financial officers, representing geographical diversity and appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who may consider potential appointees from a list that the Delaware Association of School Business Officials of the Delaware Association of School Administrators provides.

(13) One charter school administrator who is in charge of school finances, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(14) Two principals, 1 from an elementary school and 1 from a secondary school, representing geographical diversity and appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, who may consider potential appointees from a list that the Delaware Association of School Principals of the Delaware Association of School Administrators provides. Each principal must represent a district or charter school with a high percentage of low income and multilingual learner students.

(15) Three professional educators, representing geographical diversity and appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, who may consider potential appointees from a list that the Delaware State Education Association provides. At least 1 of the professional educators must be a specialist.

(16) Three education support professionals, representing geographical diversity and appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who may consider potential appointees from a list that the Delaware State Education Association provides. At least 1 of the education support professionals must be a paraprofessional.

(17) One special education director who is employed by a public school district in this state, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who may consider potential appointees from a list that the Delaware Association of Special Education Professionals of the Delaware Association of School Administrators provides.

(18) One representative of a community organization serving students in poverty, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(19) One representative of a community organization serving students learning English, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(20) One representative of an education policy organization or institution of higher education, who has special knowledge of education finance or special ability to contribute to discussion, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(21) One member of the community with knowledge of education funding policy, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(22) One representative of a parent advocacy organization, with expertise in special education, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

(23) One representative of the Vision Coalition, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who may consider potential appointees from a list that the Vision Coalition provides.

(24) One representative of the Special Education Strategic Plan Advisory Council, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who may consider potential appointees from a list that the Special Education Strategic Plan Advisory Council provides.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission chair is the Senate Education Committee member in even-numbered years and the House Education Committee member in odd-numbered years.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission chair shall select the vice chair from among the members appointed under paragraphs (18) through (24) of the membership under this Concurrent Resolution.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each member who is appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives or President Pro Tempore of the Senate serves for a term of 2 years and may serve 1 additional term.

(1) Each term expires on the date specified in the appointment; however, a member remains eligible to participate in Commission proceedings until the member’s appointing authority replaces that member.

(2) The Speaker of the House of Representatives or President Pro Tempore of the Senate may appoint a member for a term of less than 2 years to ensure terms expire on a staggered basis.

(3) If a member is appointed for a term of fewer than 2 years, the term of fewer than 2 years is not counted toward the member’s term limit.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a member who may select a designee must select the designee from that member’s organization only, to serve in the member’s stead and at the member’s pleasure. The member must provide the designation to the chair in writing. A designee has the same duties and rights as the member the designee represents.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Speaker of the House of Representatives or President Pro Tempore of the Senate may remove that appointing authority’s member for gross inefficiency, misfeasance, nonfeasance, malfeasance, or neglect of duty in office. A member is deemed in neglect of duty if the member is absent from 3 consecutive Commission meetings without good cause or fails to attend at least 50% of all regular Commission meetings in a calendar year. A member who is deemed in neglect of duty is considered to have resigned.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a majority of the members must be present at a Commission meeting in order to have a quorum and conduct official business. A vacancy on the Commission is not counted for quorum.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a member receives no compensation but may be reimbursed for the member’s actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of the member’s official duties.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education shall provide the Commission with reasonable and necessary support staff and materials.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission’s recommendations must ensure that the public education funding system does all of the following:

(1) Maintains funding stability and predictability.

(2) Provides at least Fiscal Year 2027 levels of state and local funding to each district or charter school.

(3) Supports goals, with strategies based on research, that address at least all of the following:

a. Student achievement.

b. Student and educator well-being.

c. Education recruitment and retention.

d. Equity for students and across districts and charter schools.

(4) Provides adequate funding to address at least all of the following:

a. Student need.

b. Positive classroom conditions and conducive learning facilities.

c. Educator recruitment and retention.

d. Local district and charter school wealth disparities.

(5) Provides flexible funding to meet student needs, including through services and partners.

(6) Ensures minimum State share of teacher compensation is guaranteed statewide and educators are paid in accordance with the Public Education Compensation Committee’s findings and recommendations.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in developing the Commission’s recommendations, the Commission must do all of the following:

(1) Assess the impact that funding recommendations will have on a district’s or charter school’s ability to provide appropriate, adequate academic and nonacademic supports to meet the needs of each student, including students with exceptional needs, multilingual learners, and economically-disadvantaged students.

(2) Consider the impact of recommendations on educator recruitment, retention, and autonomy.

(3) Review the recommendations from the American Institutes for Research’s (“AIR”) independent report, “Assessment of Delaware Public School Funding,” regarding all of the following:

a. Increase investment in Delaware’s public education.

b. Distribute more resources according to student need.

c. Implement a weighted student funding or foundation state funding formula.

d. Allow for more flexibility in how a district or charter school uses resources.

e. Account for local capacity and address tax inequity.

f. Improve funding transparency.

g. Regularly reassess property values.

h. Simplify the calculation of the local share provided to a charter school.

i. Expand voluntary, full-day, high-quality pre-kindergarten.

(4) Consider a hybrid model that combines the existing public education funding system with a student-based funding approach.

(5) Review education budget line items and consider where these can be consolidated or repurposed, to ensure effective use and greater flexibility.

(6) Review current Delaware laws and regulations impacting education funding and include recommendations for addressing significant disparities, conflicting mandates, or inconsistent allocation of resources.

(7) Consider the alignment with Fiscal Year 2026 equalization processes.

(8) Include recommendations for each component of Division I funding, including the funding captured in Division II and III and administrative units associated with Division I. “Division I,” “Division II,” and “Division III” mean as those terms are defined under § 1702 of Title 14.

(9) Review the impact of the referendum process on providing adequate local resources and provide recommendations for alternative mechanisms for ensuring adequate funding support.

(10) Review the Commission’s draft recommendations to ensure integration with negotiated agreements among labor unions.

(11) Review the student and educator supports recommended by the professional judgement panels in AIR’s “Assessment of Delaware Public School Funding” report, and issue funding recommendations to better position districts and charter schools to offer those supports.

(12) Review programming and personnel costs incurred in education and consider impact of funding changes on staffing, personnel leave, and pension payouts.

(13) Review current system recourse constraints and future trends.

(14) Seek input from others including educators, parents, school administrators, local school boards, and higher education representatives.

(15) Hold public meetings in person or virtually, specifically to gather input from educators, with some meetings held after the school day to ensure educator engagement.

(16) Hear from national experts to learn from other states that have done either of the following:

a. Implemented similar or different funding approaches, including the recommended weighted student funding system recommended by AIR and hybrid models that bring together resource and student-based systems.

b. Incorporated early education funding into their kindergarten through 12 ^th grade systems.

(17) Assess which components of the existing public education funding system are working and identify recommendations for modifications to strengthen the system.

(18) Ensure that local and national experts are engaged, including at least both of the following:

a. An expert that has worked in a state other than Delaware with public education funding systems, especially a state with a hybrid approach that blends student and resource-based systems.

b. An expert that has expertise and capability to create financial tools to model the impacts of recommendations to present the potential impact at the district and charter school level.

(19) Hear testimony and gather information and advice from both in-state and out-of-state experts, including those who can speak to national best practices on revenue and taxation policy and resource allocation policy, including policies related to the consideration of student and community need in a school funding formula.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission’s recommendations must address each of the following:

(1) Delaware’s approach to funding schools with increased funding targeted to meet student needs, including students with exceptional needs, students from low-income backgrounds, and multilingual learners.

(2) Which components of the public education funding system should be modified, including those based on student formula, and which components should be maintained.

(5) Opportunities to create flexibility in the public education funding system to meet the needs of students at the school and district levels.

(6) Multi-year plan for implementation, including the financial resources and other supports and systems required.

(7) Additional resources required to implement the systems and recommended sources of revenue, both existing and new, to support the changes.

(8) Address charter funding mechanisms, by considering ways to increase transparency and sustainability of charter funding, including exploring funding charters through the state funding mechanism rather than relying on local share.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission shall issue multi-year recommendations, including recommendations on phasing and what should happen each year to support the transition.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission may do both of the following:

(1) Establish subcommittees as needed.

(2) Adopt procedural rules to carry out its functions under this Concurrent Resolution.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Commission shall hold its first meeting by October 1, 2024. The Commission shall issue its first recommendations by October 1, 2025, so the recommendations may be considered for inclusion in the Governor’s recommended Fiscal Year 2027 budget.

SPONSOR:	Sen. Sturgeon & Rep. K. Williams
Sen. Lockman