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Delaware State Board affirms five priorities, adds career and technical education as explicit goal
Summary
The State Board of Education voted to affirm five strategic priorities — literacy, numeracy, early childhood, supporting high-quality educators, and career and technical education — and heard a department report on a proposed hybrid, weighted student funding model and an internal reorganization to align staff with those priorities.
The Delaware State Board of Education on June 12 voted to affirm five strategic priorities for 2026, adding career and technical education (CTE) to an existing list that includes early childhood, literacy, numeracy and supporting high-quality educators.
The motion to affirm the priorities was moved by Reverend Powell and seconded; the board approved the motion by voice vote. Board members also approved an amendment to the May 22 strategic-planning minutes to show that CTE was discussed and should be included among the priorities.
Why it matters: Secretary of Education Cindy Martin told the board that the priorities will shape department calendars, budgets and staffing. Martin said the Public Education Funding Commission on June 2 "approved unanimously a path forward for fundamentally changing the way that we fund schools in Delaware," proposing a hybrid weighted-student funding model that would move equity considerations into the base formula rather than relying only on a separate opportunity fund.
Martin said the hybrid model remains to be shaped — "we have not decided the exact weights" — and implementation would be phased and require legislative action. "A phased approach is almost always used," she said, adding that the PEFC can recommend formulas but cannot enact law.
Board members pressed for detail on timing, measurement and community engagement. Several members said they want clear, actionable metrics tied to the priorities and a quarterly or dashboard approach to tracking progress. Martin said the department is developing a dashboard of leading and lagging indicators and will circulate an action-plan draft developed during the May workshop for the board to refine.
What the board approved: In addition to affirming the five priorities and amending the May 22 minutes, the board approved several routine, time-sensitive items earlier in the meeting: the FY26 meeting calendar, preliminary FY26 start-up budget items (NASB membership, eBoard subscription, and one hearing officer contract) and multiple sets of minutes from May meetings.
Board member input: Members who attended recent conferences — including the National Association state early-childhood network meeting — highlighted research on preschool access, coaching for early-literacy and numeracy instruction, and the high costs of scaling preschool. One board member described visiting an Educare nonprofit early-childhood center and noted retention-linked salaries there: a lead teacher cited at about $75,000, an assistant teacher about $54,000 and a paraprofessional $51,000.
What's next: Martin said organizational changes to operationalize the priorities become effective July 13, and that the funding formula recommendations will be modeled and brought forward for legislative consideration. The board will continue to refine action steps and measurement tools in the coming months.
