Transition report gives nod to school district consolidation
After weeks of committee meetings, Gov. Matt Meyer released his task force report with some bold proposals by the groups.
Possibly one of the boldest recommendations in the 62-page report is to consolidate Delaware’s 19 school districts in a cost-savings move. The report notes, “states like Maryland have more centralized school district structures [often county-based], which streamline operations and funding.”
It’s not a new suggestion. Past administrations have convened task forces – often heavily laden with education administrators – which have determined that costs to equalize teacher salaries across school districts would be prohibitive. The latest was done in 2018.
A 2023 report said Delaware needs to spend $1 billion on public education, but school districts should have more discretion on how money is spent.
Meyer has been clear that public education is one of his top priorities. School district consolidation is one of several small bulleted recommendations from the task force; however, under a Big Idea category, the push is to recruit, retain, develop and invest in a diverse educator workforce, and to offer universal prekindergarten across the state for newborns to 5-year-olds.
Meyer notes at the beginning of the report that “it is essential to emphasize that these are not my administration’s official policies.”
“Instead, they are the culmination of thoughtful discussion and input from a broad cross-section of our community – a menu of potential policies and ideas we can return to during my time as governor,” he said.
Other ideas and potential policies include:
- Create veteran response team within Delaware police forces
- Increase police accountability and transparency
- Reduce redundancy in the state workforce
- Address tech staffing challenges
- Study artificial intelligence advancements in other states
- Increase production of diverse housing
- Standardize land-use policies for coastal management across all three counties
- Promote smart growth.
