Delaware's public education funding system: an analysis of reform efforts for educational equity
Date
2024
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Delaware utilizes a unique system of funding its public education system. For the last two decades, education experts have sounded the alarm for disparate funding, impacting Delaware’s most vulnerable public school students. To identify potential solutions for the system, this thesis examines the complexities of the Delaware education funding system, particularly the state allocation, aiming to provide an understanding of the system’s history and implications. Using a qualitative approach, my research analyzes recent Delaware education data provided by the American Institutes for Research along with previous reform efforts in the state to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the state’s education funding system as it relates to educational equity. ☐ Chapter 1 begins with a brief introduction of how Delaware funds its schools, as it is unique to most of the country. Next, chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature in three separate parts: why money matters for student performance, the impacts of equitable funding practices, and literature specifically pertaining to education funding in Delaware. The third chapter highlights how Delaware funded public education historically, from 1897 to 2000, when reform efforts in Delaware shifted towards a more aggressive effort to improve equity. In fact, chapter 4 continues by analyzing the reform efforts between 2000-2023. ☐ During the writing of this thesis, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) published its report on the Delaware education funding system in December 2023, which also included a series of strengths and weaknesses to the system and more importantly, it provided more recent data for my thesis. Thus, the findings of the AIR report are central to the analysis of my thesis, which also align with the strengths and weaknesses that I identify in the concluding chapter.
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Keywords
Delaware education funding system, Public school students, Educational equity, Student performance, American Institutes for Research