The Echo

Recently, a constituent asked me a series of questions. I wanted to share my answers with all voters:

How is Public Education in Delaware Funded:
Education is the largest expenditure in the Delaware state budget. Approximately 25% of public education revenue comes from local school district support, while the remainder comes from the state (65%) and the federal government (10%). The local school district portion is raised primarily through property taxes while the state portion comes from personal income tax, corporation taxes, gross receipts tax, and franchise taxes. According to GreatSchools.Net, "paying for schools with local property taxes has been one of the main causes of unequal funding….[and] the poorer communities, precisely the ones that need more resources to educate their children, must make do with smaller pots of money."

Do you know how the autistic program is funded from the state and CSD? Funding for DAP occurs in two ways: 1) Tuition is charged to a student's school district of residence to cover the local (non-state and non-federal) costs of education students 2) The statewide program is supported through tuition tax charged to New Castle County residents to the program operated by the CSD. New Castle County residents also financially support aspects of the program in the other two counties.

What does it cost the state and taxpayers to fund the autistic program, is it more than regular ed students? The cost to educate special education students is higher than that of general education students. Because their needs frequently require more support, they tend to generate more teaching units. At the DAP, each teaching unit also generates a para unit.

What is a unit count ? How are teachers earned in every school? Unit Count refers to the number of specialists, teachers, and paras generated by student enrollment. In the current system, unit count is formally assessed on Sept. 30th based upon the actual number of students in attendance in district schools that day. Those numbers generate teacher units, etc. There are a myriad of problems with the Sept. 30th date, not the least of which is that it can mean oversized classes in September and disrupting the classroom through division in October. It also impedes the recruitment and hiring of highly-qualified educators. There is some flexibility for building level administration after September 30th in that they can convert teacher units to para units. At Keene, the principal previously converted one teaching unit to a counselor (unfortunately that counselor like many of the district guidance providers is among those to be RIF'd at the end of her contract.)

Our district has 18,200 students, until the state changes the way it funds public education and special services there is little any district can do. The staff at Drew has been cut by 22% under Dr. Lowery. Allow me to clarify my answer from last night (the CSD Candidate's Forum) -- I am aware that Dr. Lowery reduced Administration in CSD. I believe we have too much admin in the DOE. I do anticipate that Dr. Lowery will begin cuts there in her new role.

ZERO tolerance, how about a kid with a knife, pepper spray, hand-cuffs,
throwing a chair at a teacher, hitting a teacher? There needs to be a balance to discipline with intervention. We can discipline a student, including suspension and expulsion, and require intervention before returning to the district. Where we fail these students is that we do not identify them as at-risk prior to committing unacceptable behaviors. The ability to ID these students lies heavily with our counseling and teaching staff. The education system has the ability to intervene in these students lives before they become a part of the criminal law system. We owe it to our students and our communities to reach out to students in need, to offer them alternatives to criminal behavior. Again, I am all for strong disciplinary practices; however, we must do need to do more than punish them.

What roles does the parent play in social behavior ? Parents are absolutely imperative to teaching appropriate social behavior! However, there will be times when parents are simply unable to support their student/child. We need to develop a policy and plan for those instances. I believe education is a community responsibility, in the absence of a parent the community needs to step up. By reaching these students through a variety of protocol, we are increasing safety for all in our schools.

When is came to Elementary Intervention on the first offense, I was dismissed and told teachers do not have the time to set up TEAMS for monitoring and mentoring. Now you know why it happens. That is an absolute travesty! I would be the first and maybe the most outspoken when it comes to needing a TEAM approach to education. When we properly address the "out-of-control" student, we are better able to educate all students!

By the way, I respect you and your eagerness to help. You need to be more informed on how the system works. Good Luck. Thank You for your kind words. My intention truly is to help! Becoming a board member will not make me a better mother, it isn't fodder for a resume and won't qualify me for anything beyond my role as parent. It will give me an opportunity to live my personal philosophy while inspiring children to want/love/desire a great education! In the end, it is always 100% about our students. As for needing to be more informed -- I agree with you. It's not what we know, it's what we don't know that inspires me to be as educated in district and state policies as possible. Thank You, too, for your service to our children. It takes a tremendous person to persevere on behalf of our students. They are fortunate to have you in their corner .I hope I have earned your vote. If I can answer anymore questions, please let me. Sincerely, Elizabeth Scheinberg