FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 2, 2025
Contact: Sarah Fulton (302) 401-1114
DOVER — Members of the Public Education Funding Commission voted to pursue a hybrid framework at Monday’s evening meeting, marking a significant step toward the adoption of a new funding formula.
“Since last September, the Commission has brought together community leaders, parent advocates, educators, legislators, and district and charter leaders to conduct a comprehensive review of public education funding in Delaware and develop a roadmap of recommendations. We have met regularly and made significant progress, including a review of Delaware’s current system, alternate funding models, and the impact of Delaware’s local revenue framework,” said Sen. Laura Sturgeon, chair of the Public Education Funding Commission. “Our work these past months has been guided by a commitment to five core values: adequacy, equity, flexibility, transparency, and accountability.”
A hybrid framework is defined as a state funding system that incorporates elements of the current unit-count system with a weighted block grant approach.
During the meeting, members of the Commission voted on five key provisions:
- The Commission recommends a hybrid funding framework that blends elements of the current system with a weighted block grant approach. The Commission supports providing additional weighted funding for students with greater needs, such as low-income backgrounds, English learners, and students with disabilities. The Commission also supports providing dedicated funding for educator positions based on the number and characteristics of students and in accordance with the statewide salary scale. As the Commission seeks to refine a hybrid funding framework, it will continually review its adherence to the five key principles: adequacy, equity, transparency, flexibility, and impact on student outcomes.
- The Commission recommends developing an implementation plan to guide the transition to a new funding formula, including a 3–5-year plan that considers the revenue needed to support the phase-in. The Commission is committed to ensuring that local education agencies (LEA) do not receive less funding during a transition to the new funding formula.
- The Commission recommends that we continue meeting and making recommendations on how to better account for local wealth differences in Delaware’s state and local education funding mechanisms after the reassessment data becomes available, including equalization, referendum reform, and state and local share.
- The Commission recommends establishing a standing body of parents, community leaders, educators, and LEA leaders to continually review Delaware’s education funding system and make recommendations to improve its adequacy, equity, transparency, flexibility, and impact on student outcomes.
- The Commission recommends engaging the broader public to gather feedback to refine a hybrid funding formula, including but not limited to community town halls and focus groups.The Commission commits to providing the public with accurate data to show the potential impacts of the proposed reforms. The Commission is committed to holding community town halls across the state, including a minimum of one event in every county. Engagement activities will be scheduled at times to allow for maximum school stakeholder participation.
These principles, taken together, will be used to guide forthcoming formula modeling and additional study that will drill down on impact on individual schools and districts.
About the Public Education Funding Commission: First established by SCR 201, which was passed by the 152nd General Assembly in June 2024, this Commission (the “PEFC”) is charged with conducting a comprehensive review of public education funding for all students and populations served by district and charter schools.
The PEFC, which was formally reestablished by HCR 2 to continue into the 153rd General Assembly, will also develop a roadmap of recommendations to implement improvements to the public education funding system and will serve as an ongoing body to review the funding annually and recommend updates and changes.
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