After six weeks of Joint Finance Committee hearings on the fiscal 2012 state budget, Delaware lawmakers resumed the 147th General Assembly with a flurry of activity.
The Senate approved 20-0 a bill that would allow Delaware schools to hire new teachers earlier in the year.
Because of the state’s current funding mechanism, districts must wait until August or September to hire their new teachers for the school year. Funding is based on a student count as of September 30th. This places districts and the state at a competitive disadvantage in the recruitment and retaining of good teachers, according to Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn. Denn led a task force that studied the issue, which found that new teachers are often rushed into a job weeks or even days before a school year. (See previous coverage here)
Senator David Sokola’s (D-Newark) bill would direct the state to send 98-percent of a district’s hiring funding in April. Sokola says Delaware schools would be more able to offer contracts at teacher job fairs, which often draw school representatives from surrounding states as well.
“A lot of the best and brightest young teachers coming out of college, they’re going to get job offers earlier. This puts us in the game, with a chance at hiring some of those,” Sokola says.
State Senator David Sokola (D-Newark)
Sokola explains the flaws in Delaware public school teacher hiring Senate Bill 16 addresses.
The Department of Education would be required to evaluate the program and provide recommendations to lawmakers in one year. Lawmakers would determine whether to continue or end the program.
The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.
Delaware drug laws would be reformed under a measure that passed the House of Representatives by a 39-1 vote. It is designed to increase the penalties for drug dealing, while reducing the penalties for so-called “piling on” for minor offenses.
Three main categories with varying degrees of potential penalties would be created: possession, drug dealing, and aggravated possession (possession of large amounts which would indicate drug dealing). Representative Melanie George (D-Bear), the sponsor in the House, says the current laws punish people who are in a cycle of addiction while not effectively addressing the root of the problem – criminals who deal drugs.
Certain minimum sentenced would be retained for felonies that involve a specified amount of drugs or involving other aggravating factors. Judges would be allowed greater discretion and would not be bound by what the bill calls “convoluted and special sentencing provisions for drug crimes.”
State Public Defender Brendan O’Neill said drug users would be treated differently than drug dealers under the legislation now heading to the Senate.
George said the Attorney General’s office, the Public Defender’s office, the Department of Correction, police agencies and sentencing reform advocates have been discussing the issue for the past two years. A similar bill passed the House last year, but did not reach the Senate floor. (See previous coverage here.)
School lunches in Delaware could be in for an overhaul. The State House approved legislation by a 30-7 vote to prohibit Delaware public and charter schools from making food that contains more than 0.5 grams of trans-fats available to students.
Representative John Kowalko (D-Newark South) sponsored a similar measure which passed the House two years ago, but did not get a vote in the Senate. He says it’s all about reducing cardiovascular disease and obesity among children, which the American Heart Association says is a growing problem.
Kowalko says this will not necessarily increase the price of a school lunch, and believes suppliers will get more competitive if mandated to provide healthier options.
“The competition’s going to bring that cost down, in fact, not raise it,” Kowalko says.
State Rep. John Kowalko (D-Newark South)
Kowalko explains the benefits of limiting trans fat in DE public and charter school cafeterias.
The law would apply to items sold on school property in cafeterias and vending machines. Sales of hot dogs and other snacks at sporting events would be exempt.
