Committee advances plan for educator raises

The Public Education Compensation Committee presented a plan Jan. 11 that would increase starting salaries for teachers over a four-year period to nearly $60,000.

“This puts us in a very competitive position,” said Mark Holodick, secretary for the Delaware Department of Education.

Under the plan, salaries would increase 2% per year, with an extra $1,875 added over the course of four years. Increases for administrators, paraprofessionals, secretaries, bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers are also included in the plan.

The General Assembly requested a committee develop a plan to retain and recruit teachers in response to neighboring states offering higher salaries. Maryland will offer $60,000 starting salaries by fiscal year 2026.

Rep. Jeff Hilovsky, R-Long Neck, suggested the group find a way to compensate teachers who go above and beyond their teaching duties. Rep. Rich Collins, R-Millsboro, said discipline needs to be addressed so that teachers aren’t driven out because of unruly classroom behavior.

“Give the teacher a better working environment as well as higher pay,” he said.

Collins also said teacher attendance should be considered as part of a comprehensive pay package. He said he is hearing many teachers are taking advantage of paid time off, some regularly taking three-day weekends.

Other legislative action

• House Bill 235 was signed into law by Gov. John Carney Jan. 11 after passing the Senate Jan. 9. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, changes the time for on-premise consumption of alcohol to 8 a.m. from the previous 9 a.m. time.
• HB 276, sponsored by Schwartzkopf, passed the House 35-3 with three absent Jan. 11 and awaits action in Senate Executive Committee. The bill allows a qualified, retired law-enforcement officer who is employed or contracted by a school or district to carry a firearm in a Safe School Zone.
• HB 40, sponsored by Sen. Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, awaits action in the Senate Executive Committee after passing the House in 2023. The bill would create a six-member Grants-in-Aid Committee to review each GIA applicant's performance, financial stability and efficiency. The committee would also require applicants to provide information and financial disclosures, giving lawmakers better opportunities to evaluate and provide oversight for the investment of taxpayer money.   
• House Concurrent Resolution 76 unanimously passed the Senate Jan. 11 after similarly passing the House a day earlier. The resolution directs the Delaware Department of Human Resources to detail hiring and promotional practices, specifying jobs requiring degrees, outlining findings from the 18-month review of state positions, and providing insights into recent changes' impact on more than 350 Family Service positions.  
• SB 183 passed the Senate Jan. 11 to use qualified judges retired from the Delaware National Guard to serve as military judges.
• HB 285 is on the House ready list to amend the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act by removing the requirement that a patient have a debilitating medical condition to qualify for a registry identification card. It would instead allow healthcare providers to make the determination of whether a patient has a diagnosed medical condition for which the patient would receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of medical marijuana. 
• HB 250 to create a special license plate for the UD Athletics Community and Campus Recreation awaits action by the full Senate. The bill passed the House in June.
• SB 197 to require state agencies buy only native plants for landscaping with some exceptions awaits action by the Senate.
• Senate Joint Resolution 3 directing all electric utilities in the state that offer net metering to solar customers to do a cost-benefit study awaits action in the Senate.
• SB 205, introduced Jan. 11, would restructure licensing fees for table games. The bill awaits action in Senate Executive Committee.
• HB 283, introduced Jan. 11, would reorganize the insurance code to centralize licensing and filing fees. The bill is in the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee.
• HB 284, introduced Jan. 11, moves workers’ compensation provisions from one chapter to another in state code. The bill is in the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee.
• HB 244, introduced Jan. 11, would require every public high school in the state to have a full-time athletic trainer. The bill is in the House Education Committee.
• HB 286, introduced Jan. 17, would prohibit discrimination in life insurance based on genetic characteristics, genetic information or the result of any genetic test that is not in a medical record as a basis for an individual's medical diagnosis or the basis of a medical diagnosis included in an individual's pertinent family history.
• HB 287, introduced Jan. 17, requires that an owner be reimbursed up to $1,500 annually for veterinary care expenses for the care of a retired law-enforcement canine. 
• HB 290, introduced Jan. 17, would allow a student who has been convicted of a violent felony to qualify for or maintain eligibility for a SEED scholarship if other eligibility criteria are met.
• HB 289, introduced Jan. 17, would increase burial benefits under the State Employees’ Pension Plan to $8,000.
• HB 292, introduced Jan. 17, would require the Department of Elections to review every political committee’s contribution and expense report and to note the report, on the department’s website, as either “Submitted but Not Reviewed” or “Reviewed and Final.”
• HB 291, introduced Jan. 17, would require that a candidate’s political committee’s contribution and expense report, provided to the Department of Elections, include the primary employer and job title of each person contributing to the committee. This act also requires the Department of Elections to provide a telephone number and online form for reporting alleged campaign financing violations. 
• HB 288, introduced Jan. 17, changes the name of the Division of Research to the Division of Legislative Services.