Department of Education presents FY27 budget plan tied to five-point strategic plan

The Joint Finance Committee on Wednesday heard the Delaware Department of Educationpresentation of the governorrecommended FY27 operating budget and a new strategic plan that ties spending to measurable student-outcome goals. Secretary Cindy Martin told the committee the plan"starts with students, build for impact" and sets specific 2028 targets, including increasing grade 3 reading proficiency from 38% to 53% and raising the statewide graduation rate from 89% to 91%.

Martin said the budget request aligns resources to five building blocks: Bright beginnings (early learning), safe and supportive schools, great teaching and learning, fair opportunities for learners, and families and communities as partners. "Every dollar in this proposal is aligned to a measurable outcome that we can report on and be clear on the progress," she said.

DOEs briefing materials, summarized by Controller General staffer Russell Ames, show a FY27 general fund recommendation of roughly $2.48 billion and an ASF/other funds component; the presentation calls out a personnel contingency of $97,445,300 and a step-increase line of $15,874,900. Ames said DOE proposed projection growth funding to add 150 units (roughly $17.9 million) while the current-year true-up reduced funding because actual unit growth was smaller than projected.

DOE is also requesting $13.8236 million in one-time funds to support implementation of the Public Education Funding Commission (PEFC) recommendations and the new funding formula. "Those are one-time fundings to implement the new school funding formula," Ames said, noting the dollars would buy dashboards, communications, and system changes.

On program-level spending, DOE highlighted investments the administration calls necessary to accelerate literacy recovery and strengthen the educator pipeline, including continued support for a year-long teacher residency (DOE confirmed $1,000,000 remains in the FY27 budget), an $8,000,000 one-time proposal to expand early childhood hub services, and ongoing unit-funded block grants such as Student Success and Academic Excellence.

The department acknowledged several reductions that are part of a fiscal discipline exercise, including contract shifts and targeted eliminations proposed as 1% discretionary savings; Ames and Brian Ray, DOEassociate secretary for finance, said those reductions were coordinated with districts and tied where possible to carryover funds or lower projected use.

The committee pressed DOE on implementation timelines, data collection and public reporting. Secretary Martin said the department will publish regular progress metrics and build a parent portal tied to the funding reform work so families can track how funds align with outcomes. "We will report on the metrics that we've committed to," she said. The department committed to follow-ups on several district-level fiscal impacts and to provide more granular data on unit counts, substitute funding distribution and carryover for programs such as the Wilmington Learning Collaborative.

The hearing moved to public comment after extensive committee questions; stakeholders urged the committee to fund early childhood expansion, community summer reading programs and to preserve line items for athletic trainers and substitute supports. The committee requested a number of follow-up items from DOE, including district-level breakouts of pass-through lines and further detail on PEFC one-time line-item uses.

Next steps: DOE will provide the committee requested detail on district-level impacts and implementation timelines; the Joint Finance Committee will consider these numbers during the budget markup process.