By Bettina Tweardy Riveros, Ernie Dianastasis and Paul Herdman
Bettina Tweardy Riveros is a senior vice president for ChristianaCare and the chair of the Vision Coalition of Delaware. Ernie Dianastasis is the CEO and founder of The Precisionists Inc. and the chair of the Delaware Business Roundtable Education Committee. Paul Herdman is the CEO of Rodel and the chair of strategic planning for the Delaware Workforce Development Board.
Gov. John Carney released his fiscal year ’24 recommended state budget on Jan. 26, and as members of coalitions focused on improving public education and the workforce here in the First State, we thank the governor and his team for prioritizing these issues and making thoughtful, significant recommendations to invest in education and a vibrant economy. We also applaud his proposed investments in housing, infrastructure and the environment, all of which intersect with education and the economy in important ways.
Collectively, we represent two broad coalitions: 1.) the Vision Coalition, which represents a cross-section of public and private sector leaders ranging from the secretary of education and charter and district school leaders to leading community-based organizations, higher education and major employers; and 2.) the Delaware Business Roundtable Education Committee, which represents employers statewide focused on improving education and the economy, from Beebe Healthcare in Sussex to JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New Castle and some of our newer companies like The Precisionists, to some of our more established anchor institutions, like ChristianaCare.
On education, particularly on the heels of the pandemic, here are some strategic priorities that resonated with us:
- Deeper investments in those that need it the most, through increased Opportunity Funding investments in low-income and multilingual learners, to support students to reach their potential.
- Salary increases of 3% for all educators, and an additional 6% for those in the classroom, to attract and retain great teachers.
- Investments in the state’s promising Grow Your Own strategy, to develop more great educators and diversify the pipeline.
- Providing funding for mental health supports in schools, a need that was made crystal clear to all of us who have or work with children over the last two years.
- Unprecedented funding for the Wilmington Learning Collaborative, which has the potential to unify and substantively support city schools.
- Historic proposed investments in high-quality early childhood education, in both child care and pre-K, which will be critical to ensuring the development of thousands of young people statewide. This foundation is critical to all learning that follows and is a key piece of our economic infrastructure supporting today’s workforce.
And when it comes to supporting the workforce, some highlights that struck us:
- With 37,000 jobs and 21,000 job-seekers in Delaware, investments in workforce development are critical to building a more responsive economy. State leadership has already invested to expand career exploration into our middle schools and launch a new Tech Council of Delaware to help build a more inclusive tech talent pipeline.
- To help people get back to work and advance in the workforce, the critical investments in early child care mentioned above are a great start.
- Significant investments in state scholarships like Inspire help our young people advance beyond high school, and new ones like the Student Excellence Equals Degree Plus program help midcareer professionals reskill for new jobs, providing an essential leg up.
- In addition to getting people back to work, the governor’s recommended budget includes smart investments for the future. Our economy is moving toward more biotech, advanced manufacturing and health care, so investments in a joint engineering partnership with the University of Delaware and Delaware State University, and providing young scientists and new entrepreneurial companies with lab space are great ways to lay the tracks for where the state is going.
- The continued focus on “Ready in 6” is critical to retaining existing businesses and attracting new ones to Delaware. Ri6 is a critical public-private initiative focused on accelerating the permitting process and transportation infrastructure, so that companies can have the approvals to come to Delaware or expand their current businesses in six months or less. A vibrant base of companies will require a vibrant workforce, and our students in the K-12 education system represent the future for our Delaware-based companies.
- With close to a billion dollars from the federal government coming into the state for infrastructure like roads, bridges and green jobs, like electric vehicle-charging stations, the connection between education and our economy needs to be responsive and seamless.
We believe the investments in the governor’s recommended budget are great strides toward expanding educational opportunities for our young people and better preparing the next generation for the economy of 2024 and beyond. And, as a state, we can work together to go even further. Among our coalitions’ priorities are to make education funding more equitable, to create more leadership opportunities for educators and to accelerate learning in the wake of the pandemic.
In these politically volatile times when social media is dominated with tweets about what’s wrong, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge what the governor and his team got right. We look forward to working with the legislature and our colleagues in the field to ensure we maximize and build on the opportunities ahead to invest in education and a vibrant Delaware economy.
