Education Secretary Mark Holodick has been sued by 11 charter schools over alleged financial dues. (Unsplash)

Charter Schools sue Holodick over special ed payments

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

The Delaware Charter Schools Network, 11 charter schools and the Delaware secretary of education are waiting on a judge’s ruling in a lawsuit about $4 million in tax revenue the charters say they are due. The network and the 11 charter schools sued Education Secretary Mark Holodick in Kent County Superior Court in July to get the money and to …

Delaware's Department of Education published the state's 2022 test scores Tuesday.

2022 Rewind: State education test scores described as ā€˜crisis’ 

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

This story was originally published in August 2022. Delaware’s 2022 test scores were released this August, and they aren’t pretty.Ā  Just 30% of Delaware students in grades three to eight met grade-level math requirements, while 42% earned a proficient score in English language arts.Ā  These scores come from the state-administered Smarter Balanced Assessment, an end-of-the-year summative test that measures the …

There are more than 70 libraries across the state that share 2.5 million ebooks and print books for the benefit of Delawareans.

Delaware to add school libraries into statewide catalog

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

The Delaware Library Consortium announced Tuesday that it will spend $1 million to add school libraries into the statewide catalog. The goal is to broaden the First State’s library catalog and provide more students an opportunity to conduct research or read for pleasure. ā€œOver the years it seems like everything around literacy has been tweaked except school libraries, until now,ā€ …

Delaware students performed worse on math tests in the past three years than any other state.

Report: Delaware math, reading scores drop tops state lists

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

Delaware test scores have fallen to the bottom of the heap since 2019, with some worse than any other state, according to the Nation’s Report Card, which was released Monday.Ā  From 2019 to 2022, the average scores for Delaware fourth-graders on the math assessment dropped by 14 points, the steepest of any state.Ā  ā€œIn Delaware specifically, our scores were decimated,ā€ …

Delaware's teacher union wants the state to follow Maryland's lead and start teachers' salary at $60,000.

State teachers’ union asks for base pay hike

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

Delaware’s teacher union proposed a new salary schedule Monday that includes a base pay of $60,000. Of that base pay, $42,000 would come from the state — $12,000 more than it’s currently paying.Ā  Under the plan, teacher salaries would be raised over three years, costing the state $134.5 million in total. By the final year, total teacher salaries would cost …

Milford’s Ashley Lockwood has been named Delaware's 2023 teacher of year.

Milford’s Ashley Lockwood named 2023 teacher of year

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

Ashley Lockwood, a fifth-grade teacher at Lulu Ross Elementary in Milford School District, has been named the 2023 Delaware Teacher of the Year.Ā Ā  ā€œTeaching children has been one of the greatest blessings and gifts that God has ever given me, and for that, I will be forever grateful,ā€ Lockwood said during the award ceremony Tuesday night. ā€œThank you to my …

Students are returning to the classroom this week and next, and things are looking a lot differently than they did at the start of last year.

Schools start Tuesday, and ā€˜kids can be kids’ again

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

Caesar Rodney School District students will be the first to return to school this fall, heading back on Tuesday, Aug. 23. Others such as Colonial start next week, but the majority head back after Labor Day. For the first time since March 2020, the spectre of COVID-19 will be shoved into the coat closet and largely left there. ā€œKids can …

Delaware has contracted a consultant to evaluate their complex and historic funding formula for school funding.

Here’s why state wants advice on school funding

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

The Delaware Department of Education announced last week it has hired a Virginia consultant to study the state’s public education funding system. As today’s wisecracker would say: Good luck with that. How the money trickles down to the classroom is complex, and it follows a funding system established in the 1940s. The state’s population then was 286,000, compared to today’s …

Delaware's Department of Education published the state's 2022 test scores Tuesday.

State education test scores dismal, described as ā€˜crisis’ 

Jarek Rutz Education, Headlines

Delaware’s 2022 test scores were released Tuesday, and they aren’t pretty.Ā  Just 30% of Delaware students in grades three to eight met grade level math requirements, while 42% earned a proficient score in English language arts.Ā  These scores come from the state-administered Smarter Balanced Assessment, an end-of-the-year summative test that measures the abilities of students in grades three through eight …

Delaware received over $600 million in ESSER funds.

Here’s how $600M in COVID education money was spentĀ 

Jarek Rutz Delaware Live, Education, Headlines

First State Educate, a local education advocacy group, held a webinar Tuesday to outline where COVID-19 relief money went. Relief funds were spent on learning loss, educational technology, building and mental health.Ā  ā€œAs we come through, and hopefully out of the COVID-19 pandemic learning loss and recovery, not just academic, but social emotional recovery is a grave concern of mine,ā€ …