Delaware
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner is proposing changes at every level of education in Delaware.
In her Jan. 18 State of the State address, the second-term Democrat said her forthcoming budget proposal would fully finance full-day kindergarten for the state’s regular public and charter schools. Last year, the state enacted a law mandating full-day kindergarten, starting in the 2008-09 school year.
Gov. Minner also said her budget would pay for new specialists in mathematics education to work in 10 middle schools throughout the state. If those positions are funded, Delaware will have such specialists in all of the state’s 42 middle schools.
At the high school level, Gov. Minner said her administration wants to create a program to recruit dropouts to return to high school. The program would be modeled after a program used in 25 other states. In some states, 70 percent of the dropouts earn a General Educational Development certificate, Gov. Minner said.
In higher education, the governor proposed free tuition to state universities for students who have earned an associate’s degree under a state scholarship program. Under the program, 800 students would be able to complete their bachelor’s degrees, she said.
Read a complete transcript of Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s 2007 State of the State address. Posted by Delaware’s Office of the Governor.
