VOTE TO EXPAND AND PROTECT...
Budget equity
Our budget equity platform
Learn more about budget equity issues to consider when voting.
Equity is about ensuring that everyone has what they need to succeed. This means recognizing that each school and each student is unique and needs individualized plans to achieve success.
Working to eliminate the discrimination that exists in our school systems begins in large part by addressing the historic funding gaps that disproportionately affect black and brown neighborhoods. With significant decision-making power and budgets in the millions to allocate, school boards play an important role in this struggle. They are responsible for contracting decisions and for ensuring that budgets and resources, such as textbooks, equipment and supplies, are distributed equitably. While efforts to improve funding for Delaware's low-income schools have increased in recent years, we must elect school board officials who are dedicated to continuing to close funding gaps, or else huge imbalances in educational equity will persist.... That role also includes eliminating any discrimination that exists within school districts.
No student's educational experience should be defined by their zip code. To close the funding gap, school boards must allow the priorities and needs of students, parents and teachers in the community to guide the process. Tailoring budgets to the needs of each school, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all model, will help ensure that all students can begin their academic journey at the starting line with their peers.
Restorative discipline
Our restorative discipline platform
Learn more about the restorative discipline issues to consider when voting.
The number of schools that have School Resource Officers (SROs) has grown dramatically in recent decades despite recent research and events showing that SROs and sheriffs do not make schools safer. In fact, according to federal civil rights data, Delaware students who attend schools with police are eight times more likely to be arrested than those who attend schools without police.
SROs often have little or no training or experience in dealing with minors, which can lead to serious consequences for minor infractions. Students are expelled from class, subjected to physical restraint, interrogation and other risks to their rights to education, due process and equal treatment. Excessive criminalization of learning environments only fuels the "school-to-prison pipeline," and disproportionately affects black and brown children, who are often subject to harsher discipline than their white counterparts.
Too often, schools fail to address the underlying problems that may be affecting students. Students may be struggling with a disability or experiencing poverty, abuse or neglect and the emotions and problems these issues can bring can cause a student to act out. But punishing a student for something that is ultimately out of his or her control is not fair and may exacerbate the problem.
School boards have the power to invest in restorative disciplinary practices that build safer, more inclusive school environments that are not based on fear and prejudice, but that nurture and value all of our children. We need school board members willing to fund preventive, trauma-informed interventions, such as social workers, school counselors, psychologists and other mental health professionals.
Inclusion in schools
Our school inclusion platform
Learn more about school inclusion issues to consider when voting.
Schools should be inclusive spaces that welcome and value all students who walk through their doors. Safe educational spaces are especially important for LGBTQ+ students, who often experience harassment and discrimination in and out of the classroom.
School boards play an important role as allies of these students. School board members can openly embrace all students while working to promote and enact progressive and inclusive policies for their districts. These policies have the power to recognize and tell students that they are seen and valued for exactly who they are.
In recent years in Delaware, Red Clay Consolidated and Christina school districts have passed policies of this type, and it is something that should be replicated by school boards across the state. For more information on these policies, see the ACLU of Delaware's webpage on the School Board's role in your rights.
In recent years, Delaware has experienced a dramatic increase in the percentage of its population that identifies as Hispanic/Latino. The 2020 U.S. Census confirmed that 104,290 Delaware residents, or 1 in 10 Delawareans, identify as Delawareans. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher, as many immigrants may distrust government officials and fear sharing their personal data, resulting in immigrants not being counted in the U.S. census. In any case, these statistics make one thing very clear: Delaware's Spanish-speaking community is only growing and the state's services must grow as well.
Language should never be an obstacle to access to education. Like all families, there are certain services or supports that Spanish-speaking families need to help their children succeed. Offering translated resources and materials is an important step toward creating a school community in which Spanish-speaking families feel included and engaged in their children's education. Knowing what is happening in classrooms, understanding new or existing school policies, and being aware of the various opportunities for students will ensure that these students and their parents thrive.
Spanish-speaking students and families are an integral part of our community. Our school boards must recognize the value of diversity in Delaware schools.
Students benefit when they are in schools with teachers and administrators who look like them. Diversity among teachers and administrators leads to:
- Improved college graduation and enrollment rates, higher attendance and achievement rates, especially among students of color;
- Increased rates of parental involvement, especially among parents of color; and
- More tolerant and inclusive classrooms, with fewer cases of bullying.
Delaware still has a long way to go in creating diverse leadership in its school systems. According to a Rodel report, during the 2020 - 2021 school year, more than 70% of all teachers and administrators were white, even though only 42% of students in the state were white. It is critical that school boards not simply acknowledge that this problem is a serious barrier to student success, but that they develop strategies and implement policies to create more diverse leadership in schools.
Our First Amendment right to an inclusive and equitable education is under attack. Students have the right to read and learn about the lived experiences of historically marginalized groups and the legacy that discrimination has left in the United States. Creating inclusive communities means ensuring that students are exposed to points of view and experiences that are different from their own.
School boards can help curb censorship in the classroom. School boards have the power to determine the educational policies of their districts and are responsible for selecting, purchasing and distributing textbooks. Inclusive educational practices have been shown to increase graduation rates, increase college readiness, and decrease bias incidents in schools. Everyone, especially students of color and LGBTQ+ students, deserve an education free from viewpoint-based discrimination.
For too many children with disabilities, school is a place of fear and confusion. Harsh discipline disproportionately affects students with disabilities-especially students of color with disabilities-contributing to higher dropout rates and lower enrollment in higher education.
Making a conscious effort to include all children allows them to develop an appreciation for diversity and learn that everyone has unique strengths regardless of differences. Inclusion gives children space to explore alternative and creative ways of doing things, and also helps children develop empathetic environments in which they can practice open communication.
When schools set an example of appropriate understanding and acceptance of students with disabilities, academic outcomes improve for all students. Our school boards have a responsibility to ensure that children do not receive a poor education because they have a disability.
Health and safety in schools
Our health and safety platform
Learn more about the health and safety issues at the polls that you should consider when voting.
Schools have a responsibility to keep students safe. However, last year it was discovered that the state had not taken adequate measures to ensure the safety of drinking water in Delaware's public schools. A statewide investigation of drinking water in schools found that nearly all samples tested positive for lead levels well above legal health limits.
Lead can have drastic effects on children's health, such as damage to the brain and nervous system, stunted growth and development, and increased behavioral and learning problems. In addition, these effects may disproportionately affect students with disabilities and those from low-income households.
School boards can help ensure that Delaware students have access to clean water. School boards are responsible for preparing annual reports on important problems and improvements that need to be addressed in their districts. By raising critical issues such as the lead water crisis, school boards can raise public awareness, increase the budget for care and maintenance of building infrastructure, and hold the relevant state and federal departments accountable. Students deserve to be safe in their classrooms, and families deserve to be able to trust that their children will be cared for at school. We need school board members to take immediate and effective action to protect student health.
Our partners
