School’s out for many — but lawmakers haven’t stopped assessing legislation aimed at Delaware’s teacher pipeline. Support for paraprofessionals, aspiring teachers and more may join a 9% raise coming for public school teachers.
In this roundup we’ll look to catch you up on some Delaware education news you may have missed.
Did we miss another good story? Tell me about it: kepowers@gannett.com.
Bill supporting paraprofessionals looking to become teachers advances
Legislation aimed at both combating an ongoing teacher shortage and diversifying that pipeline itself passed in the Delaware Senate earlier this month.
Senate Bill 156 looks to help ease the path for experienced paraprofessionals to become full-time, certified teachers. These educators provide instructional, behavioral and other support to students in and out of the classroom, often one-on-one support in special education.
As primary sponsor and Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman explained, many paraprofessionals — roughly 3,200 working in Delaware — would like to fill teaching vacancies, but the state’s current teacher salary scale fails to account for their classroom experience.
“Which means that transition would likely result in a pay cut for our most experienced paras,” the Democrat serving central and west Wilmington said in a statement. “I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate for voting today to remove that hurdle and allow Delaware schools to draw from a more diverse pool of teaching candidates.”
Teachers previously employed as a Title 1 or instructional paraprofessional for at least four years would be able to count half of their prior experience toward the salary scale for teachers under this bill.
“They start at zero and don’t take the jobs because they lose money just to start over as a teacher, which is just crazy to think about,” said Shelley Meadowcroft, spokesperson for the Delaware State Education Association. “So this bill would help get rid of those financial barriers for paras to become teachers.”
There’s hope that helping paraprofessionals become full-time certified teachers may also improve the racial diversity among state’s workforce.
The bill now heads to the House.
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Lawmakers look to establish an educator apprenticeship program
Another bill passed in the House last week, seeking to set up a “Delaware Educator Apprenticeship Program.” The program would place aspiring teachers in paid positions, as outlined in House Bill 138, while they complete their education and training.
“One of my top legislative priorities has been to support educators and grow our educator pipeline, particularly in light of the teacher shortage we are facing,” said Rep. Kim Williams, primary sponsor and Democrat serving Delaware’s 19th District, in a statement.
The bill would charge the Department of Education and the Department of Labor to create the program. A pilot would be created for next school year between one college or university and one district or charter school, according to bill details, promising expansion if interest and funding are available.
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Back in 2022, the General Assembly passed legislation to create full-time substitute teacher positions as well as pathways for those employees to become certified teachers. This came alongside $4 million to help public schools institute “Grow Your Own Educator” programs to provide financial assistance to college students who commit to teach at a given school for at least three years.
HB 138 now heads to the Senate’s Education Committee.
Kelly Powers covers race, culture and equity for the USA TODAY Network’s Northeast Region and Delaware Online, with a focus on education. Contact her at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on Twitter @kpowers01.
