The Meyer Plan is a six-part series that examines the campaign policy proposals of Governor-elect Matt Meyer, and how they could impact the state.
Why Should Delaware Care?
Governor-elect Matt Meyer is taking office at a time when state leaders are determining whether to make changes to Delaware’s core public education funding system. His administration will also confront teacher shortages and rising concerns about student proficiency and behavior.
Governor-elect Matt Meyer will soon assume office during one of the most pivotal times in the history of Delaware’s public education system.
For the first time in nearly 85 years, Delaware may overhaul how it funds public education in the state.
After the Delaware NAACP and Delawareans for Educational Opportunity sued the state, arguing its education system did not provide an adequate education to all students and therefore violated their rights, a report examining the funding system was commissioned.
That report, completed by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in 2023, recommended that the state increase spending by as much as $1 billion annually to meet its 2030 educational proficiency goals.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers expressed concerns about how such an enormous sum could affect taxpayers though, leading the legislature to form the Public Education Funding Commission earlier this year to study Delaware’s current funding system and alternatives.
That commission will provide recommendations by Oct. 1, 2025.
While the commissions’ conversations are ongoing, adjusting the public education funding system to better align with the AIR report is at the top of Meyer’s education plan.
His administration is also aiming to provide solutions to other concerns among Delawareans, like the ongoing teacher shortage and retention issues, students’ behavior and access to universal pre-K.
As Meyer – who himself taught middle school math in Wilmington – takes on some of the most complex issues in Delaware’s schools, one thing has been made clear: there must be a total reform in the public education system.
Aligning with the AIR report
In his plan, Meyer states that the state must fully fund its public schools.
To do that, Meyer believes Delaware must make changes to its public education funding system that are consistent with the AIR report, like providing an additional increase of $3,400 to $6,400 per pupil.
The average timeline for a state to redo its public education funding system is one to three years, according to Michael Griffith, senior researcher and policy analyst at the Learning Policy Institute.
But that timeline depends on a few different factors, like whether there was a lot of groundwork laid and the complexity of the issues within the existing formula. Changing the system may also require a training period for administrators.
Delaware’s current funding system essentially takes an annual school enrollment count of students and computes how many teachers, support personnel and administrators are needed to serve them.
“This [new system] changes all of that, and you’re the one who decides how many teachers you’re going to have and how many other positions you’re going to have,” Griffith said. “It would be a very big change.”
Other states like Maryland have proven to be possible models for how Delaware could transition its unit count system to a foundation formula.
A commission similar to Delaware’s Public Education Funding Commission recommended that Maryland send $3.8 billion more dollars to its schools over a decade. The state is pouring an additional $131 million into the Blueprint plan beginning this year, primarily by increasing its taxes on tobacco products.
The funding system — known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future — has three components that go into its funding formula: a base per-pupil amount, weighted amounts and program amounts.
Maryland also has an accountability plan that requires a district to articulate how they’re investing those additional dollars for English language learners, students with disabilities and students from low-income backgrounds.
In his plan, Meyer points out that Delaware’s current public education funding system “comprises multiple formulas,” and states that he’d implement a weighted funding formula, which would “provide better funding transparency.”
Transitioning to a weighted formula is a first step toward increasing transparency, but there should also be data systems that allow people to see how the funding is impacting students’ outcomes, said Qubilah Huddleston, the policy lead of equitable school funding at EdTrust, a public education advocacy and research organization.
“We can’t get that level of information just from changing the formula. We have to also create some accountability systems,” she said.
Implementing universal pre-K
Meyer also aims to provide access to universal pre-K throughout the state by the end of his four-year term. It would fulfill a dream for many education advocates that has been unfulfilled for years.
Delaware does pay for pre-K services for some families, including those whose income is equal to or below the federal poverty level, if a family has children in foster care, if a family is experiencing homelessness or if a family has children with documented delays or disabilities. Certain school districts also have pre-K programs that are largely needs-based.
Studies have shown that access to pre-K produces a variety of positive outcomes, like higher school achievement and a reduced need for special education at a later age.
Gary Henry, a professor at the University of Delaware’s School of Education and Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration, worked with former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller to implement universal pre-K in the Peach State.
Georgia began phasing in its program in 1992, starting as a needs-based program and it expanded as revenue increased, Henry said.
In his plan, Meyer acknowledged that this could be an expensive per-child investment, but added that he will fund pilot programs and the state will collaborate with nonprofit organizations to invest in pilots to provide birth-to-5 education.
Because of Delaware’s size, people can connect, align and make progress on issues at a faster pace than other states, said Paul Herdman, the CEO of Rodel, a nonprofit that studies public education in Delaware.
The legislature has also shifted over time to be very supportive of early childhood education, Herdman added. There are multiple groups the state could align with, like the Early Childhood Council and First State Pre-K, which is affiliated with more than 70 community organizations.
Addressing the ongoing teacher shortage
In the weeks leading up to the 2023-24 school year, Delaware had more than 700 job openings in school districts across the state. Delaware has also struggled to retain its teachers of color in recent years.
The state’s teachers union, the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA), found that three out of five educators are more likely to retire early or leave public education due to student behavioral challenges.
Among his priorities, Meyer would advocate for Delaware teacher salaries to surpass that in surrounding states by the end of his first term.
While some experts believe Meyer must change the public education funding system to a foundation formula before increasing educators’ salaries, DSEA’s Director of Legislative and Political Strategy Taylor Hawk believes that the two can and should be done at the same time.
“We are moving at a really aggressive pace at coming up with a new funding system that works for Delaware. But one of the core elements to any funding system is making sure that you have appropriate salary levels that ensure classrooms are fully staffed,” Hawk said.
Educators’ salaries in Delaware range from just under $46,500 to nearly $85,000. Hawk added that the state must change the funding formula and increase educators’ salaries at the same time because sacrificing one automatically means sacrificing the other.
Looking at the whole child
Educators in Delaware have also grown increasingly concerned about students’ behavior and schools’ climates. In November, the Student Behavior and School Climate Task Force released recommendations to help change some aspects of Delaware’s current disciplinary system.
The task force’s recommendations had nine different topic areas, with some focusing on legislative and policy framework, funding and resource allocation and the system of interventions that aim to help students.
Meyer also wants to address over-disciplining students, in part by instituting an early-warning and intervention system for at-risk students and using a whole-child approach.
Those early warning signs should include disruptive behavior, attendance and not turning in homework, said Fayetta Blake, the founder of Pathways to Success, a Sussex County organization that aims to help underserved youth while students are in high school and beyond their graduation.
Blake believes that if a student misses more than three or more days of school, there needs to be an intervention — it’s something her team carries out in Pathways to Success.
“We need to have an intervention, meaning that we have to let kids know that we care enough to go after them, to call, to show up at your door, not from a truancy, ‘Oh, my God, you’re in trouble’ standpoint, but from a care standpoint,” she said.
As governor, Meyer said his policy will focus on the whole child, which looks at areas like their emotional maturity or mental health. That approach is important to those in the field, like Blake, because it allows educators to better adjust and support students who may be acting out.
“How in the world do I focus on my work if I’m hungry? If I come to school and I’ve had a traumatic effect … and that’s all that’s in my head, and I’m angry or I’m hurt … how do I focus?” Blake said. “We’ve got to figure out where our kids are demographically and not to label them, but to help them.”
How will Meyer fund these initiatives?
Meyer has other large goals in his plan, like fully funding school lunch and breakfast programs for students who need them. Critics have previously raised concerns over the cost of rolling out a statewide free breakfast and lunch program.
But the cost of many items on Meyer’s plan, including the meals programs, could be largely covered by the federal government, Henry said.
Meyer also proposes the possibility of collaborating with nonprofit and community-based organizations to help offset the cost of some of these initiatives.
Some organizations, like Pathways to Success, are already aiming to help the state address issues in the education system — like the teacher shortage.
Pathways to Success has its own “grow your own program,” with roughly 60 students in the program. In doing so, they’ll be adding more future teachers of color to Delaware’s schools.
Although these are large-scale issues that Meyer is looking to address, those in the education policy landscape don’t foresee the cost of these initiatives being a burden on Delawareans.
“While there is certainly a call for greater revenue, I don’t think it’s as high as might be expected in terms of raising the state taxes,” Henry said.
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