DSEA cheers education investments included in FY27 budget bills

DOVER – Union educators cheered the State of Delaware’s FY 2027 spending plan introduced Tuesday by the chairs of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

The operating budget bill and one-time supplemental bill include significant investments in Delaware’s public schools, including pay increases for active educators and retirees, as well as a substantial down payment on the education funding reforms recommended by the Public Education Funding Commission.

“This legislation marks a major step forward in Delaware’s ongoing effort to build a 21st century public school system where every student has an opportunity to succeed,” said Delaware State Education Association President Stephanie Ingram, whose term in office concludes in July.

“Rep. Kim Williams, Sen. Trey Paradee, and Governor Matt Meyer deserve tremendous credit for delivering a spending plan that values the hard work of public school educators and finally begins shifting our schools away from a broken funding system that has failed our students and their families for far too long,” she said. “While more work will be needed in the years ahead, I am thankful for every educator, parent and community member whose advocacy and commitment brought us to this moment. I encourage our state legislators to honor that work by voting yes on Senate Bill 335 and Senate Bill 336.”

SB 335, the operating budget bill, will provide teachers and specialists throughout Delaware with a 7.1% increase on the state portion of their salaries. In Delaware, roughly 70% of educator pay is funded by the state, while the remaining 30% is supported by local property taxes. 

Based on recommendations from the Public Education Compensation Committee, Delaware set a goal to reach a starting teacher salary of $60,000 by Fiscal Year 2028. As a result, teachers and specialists have seen the state-funded portion of their pay increase by 19% over the last three years. While Delaware continues to offer the lowest average starting salary for teachers in the region, the recent pay increases have coincided with increased job satisfaction among Delaware teachers.

Paraprofessionals, custodians, food service workers, and other Education Support Professionals, meanwhile, have seen their pay increase at the same rate as other state employees, who are slated to receive a 3% increase under SB 335.

DSEA continues to advocate for Senate Joint Resolution 14, legislation sponsored by Sen. Dan Cruce that directs the Delaware Department of Education to conduct a comprehensive study of the wages paid to ESPs – a critical step toward delivering parity, fairness and relief to some of the hardest working and most overlooked educators in our public schools.

Under SB 335, eligible retirees also would see a cost-of-living increase. Educators who retired before 2006 slated would see a 2% pension increase, while educators who retired between 2006 and 2021 would receive a 1% increase.

Meanwhile, SB 336 would set aside $100 million in funding this year to help implement the hybrid funding formula proposed by Sen. Laura Sturgeon and Rep. Williams.

Senate Bill 302 – passed unanimously by the Senate in May and now awaiting final consideration in the House – would create the equitable funding framework our schools need to achieve real gains in the classroom, while delivering the accountability and transparency our communities need to rebuild trust in our public schools.

SB 302 will retain the baseline staffing levels that underpin the current system, while giving our schools the resources and flexibility they need to better support lower-income students, multilingual learners, students in special education, and students in career and technical education programs.

At the same time, SB 302 will reduce dozens of complex and rigid funding streams down to three basic buckets: operational funds, opportunity funds, and base funding – making it easier for parents and community members to see how their tax dollars are reaching our classrooms and our students.

“For too long, our broken funding formula has created a system of winners and losers, where classrooms, schools, and entire districts have struggled to meet their student needs without the resources students need to be successful,” said incoming DSEA President Tameka Mays, whose term starts July 15.

“Our union believes every school district in every county should benefit from a smarter, more modern approach to how Delaware funds public education,” she said. “The funding set aside in this year’s one-time supplemental budget bill helps us get there by making sure no district or charter school will see a loss of state funding under the hybrid, weighted funding system proposed by the PEFC and endorsed by our union.”