Delaware’s Department of Education has drafted a plan that could see the state take over low-performing schools or hold back third-graders who are far behind grade level in reading and writing. Education Secretary Cindy Marten stressed that the framework is only a draft, and said some of it would require legislation she plans to have ready for the new session in January.
Key Points
- Five tiers of support and accountability for district and charter schools, with state intervention beginning at Tier 4
- Tier 5, the last tier, is receivership: the DOE would take over operation of an individual school (not a whole district) and appoint leadership until conditions improve
- A state-approved receiver would work with the local school board, superintendent and principal, and full authority would return to local leaders in phases after sustained progress
- Third-graders could be held back, which Marten called a last-resort option
Implications for Educational Freedom
The framework aims to give Delaware a clearer answer for what happens when a school consistently fails to improve, escalating from added supports to state-directed actions and, only if those fail, receivership. How long schools can remain in a tier and how they will be placed are still to be determined, so parents will want to follow the stakeholder engagement opportunities the department plans in the coming months.
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