Because of what's been done so far, Delaware is positioned to make its public schools among the best in the nation. It has high academic standards that were developed locally, and a well-crafted plan for instructing students and evaluating their progress. It has adopted educator accountability and set the stage for monitoring teacher performance. It has adopted tough but attainable high school graduation requirements. It has revised most of the public school curricula to integrate the new standards.
Work is under way to finish that.
What remains to be done Delaware has failed to properly address professional training for educators and a pay system that attracts and keeps the best teachers in the public school system. Delaware needs a professional development program that requires educators to take courses with a direct impact on the subjects and grades they teach. Administrators should be directed to study areas that directly affect their managerial functions. The old continuing education system let teachers and administrators receive credit for taking any courses that appealed to them, regardless of whether it would improve their current assignments. Too often, that led to reimbursement for frivolous course work.