DELAWARE- Public school teachers are under pressure as the state's education system grapples with an increasing workload and plummeting test scores.
Now, the Joint Finance Committee is questioning whether an increase in funding for the Department of Education will provide a return on investment.
The DOE requested a nearly $2 billion budget in the meeting, which represents about a 9% increase from last year. The increase is partly due to Governor John Carney's plans to raise teacher salaries, but that may not be enough.
Committee member and state Sen. Eric Buckson (R-Dover), says throwing money at the problem is not the solution.
"We are going to have to look at the other aspect, which is the workplace environment, the classroom," he said. "Over regulations, adding more to the process, spending more money and taking discipline away isn't going to cure this."
Delaware Secretary of Education, Mark Holodick, acknowledges the burden that teachers face.
"We do have some schools that have particular grade levels or classrooms with more students than we would like to see," he said. As increased class sizes make it harder for teachers to do their jobs effectively.
"As we have come out of COVID, I think we've only placed more responsibility on our schools and educators, and I don't know how fair that is, but it's the reality," said Holodick.
Sen. Buckson worries that the pandemic has been dragged out too long, forcing teachers to lower their expectations of students.
"If you incentivize them to be told that COVID was so tough and so traumatizing to every child and it's okay that you're failing and it's okay that you can't adjust to normalcy...it's a recipe for failure," he said.
Holodick says the proposal reflects the department's commitment to addressing the needs and concerns of educators on the ground.
"A lot of the things we're talking about here today around initiatives, strategies and ideas aren't necessarily coming directly from the department, maybe coming through the department, but from educators who are actually in our buildings," said the Secretary of Ed.
The Delaware State Education Association (DSEA) tells us all of the issues are interconnected, requiring a multi-faceted approach at correcting them.
"When you have small class sizes and manageable caseloads, it's a lot easier to form those one-on-one relationships with students which also has a positive impact on student behaviors," said Taylor Hawk, Director of Legislative and Political Strategy.
Despite the challenges, Hawk believes that efforts to improve are already underway. "I think a lot of the issues that were brought up yesterday really point to the solutions that are needed in order to make our classrooms a safe atmosphere for our educators and students" she said.
The Department's budget proposal also includes funding to address the school bus driver shortage and increased mental health services for students.
