Delaware State News, July 3, 2008

DOVER — Delaware’s public schools need to spend funding wisely to ensure that it reaches students in classrooms, Insurance Commissioner and lieutenant governor can­didate Matthew P. Denn said Wednesday.

Mr. Denn, a Democrat, un­veiled a four­point plan to help schools allocate their limited resources in the most benefi cial manner, calling for an educational funding floor.

Administrators left to their own devices, he said, do not funnel money where it is needed most — in the classrooms.

“Delaware puts 58 percent of its operating money into instruc­tional expenditures, while the na­tional average is 61 percent,” Mr. Denn said. “Meanwhile, we spend 25 percent more than the national average on administration.

“Spending wisely is the right thing to do today for our kids, and it is the right thing to do for the future in laying the groundwork to expand public support for our schools,” said Mr. Denn, adding that the misspending of funds leads to public distrust.

“If Delawareans believe that our schools are using their mon­ey wisely, they will be much more likely to support those schools in the future.”

The centerpiece of Mr. Denn’s plan is a state educational fund­ing floor — a mandate that local school districts spend a given per­centage of their total educational funds on people who provide di­rect services to kids and the mate­rials those people need to do their jobs.

Mr. Denn said the exact per­centage should only be set after serious consideration as to what should count as contributing to learning and what should not, and teachers need to be part of that discussion.

Other components of Mr. Denn’s plan are:

- Routinely auditing the terms of and performance upon con­tracts that local school districts enter into with private parties;

- Creating a financial oversight committee of parents, teachers, and financial professionals from each local school district to moni­tor the spending decisions made by local district school boards;

- Considering LEAD Commit­tee recommendations to the state that could save tens of millions of dollars.

Asked about the high admini­strative costs, Mr. Denn said the state needs to have serious dis­cussions about possibly consolidating the 19 school districts to save money, although any actual implementation would take years to accomplish.

“That is a conversation we need to have beginning in Janu­ary 2009,” Mr. Denn said. “I think everything has to be on the table. We owe it to our students to have those serious discussions.”