AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO GROW YOUR OWN EDUCATOR PROGRAM.

This Act creates a statewide Grow Your Own Educator Program to improve recruitment, retention, and diversity of educators in Delaware public schools. The Program establishes a competitive grant process to be administered by the Department of Education. Any Delaware reorganized school district or charter school can apply for a grant to establish its own unique Grow your Own Educator Program. Subject to funding grants will be awarded on a 2-year basis. Applicants must provide a detailed explanation how their proposed Program will be run, including any partnerships with institutions of higher education and whether the Program anticipates providing last dollar tuition and related educational financial assistance to candidates accepted into their Program who commit to teaching a minimum of 3 years, upon licensure, in the Applicant’s school district or charter school. Any awarded grant money must be used to initiate and run the Program. In evaluating applications that meet the Department’s criteria, if funding is limited, the Department will give additional weight to Applicants that prioritize recruiting candidates from high-need schools, placing teacher candidates in high-need schools, develop programs that support teacher professionals, including bilingual candidates and those without bachelor’s degrees, and leverage apprenticeship and year-long teacher residency models. The Department will annually provide Program data to the Senate and House Education Committees including the number of grant applications, the number of grants awarded, names of districts and charter schools receiving grants, and retention rate for educator candidates hired by the district or charter school. For fiscal year 2022-2023 $4,000,000 is anticipated being appropriated to the Department from the General Fund consistent with the agreed settlement terms in In Re Delaware Public Schools Litigation, C.A. No. 2018-0029-VCL which states, in part, that the Governor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 will include at least $4,000,000 to support enhanced teacher recruitment and retention in high-need schools. A portion of those funds will be allocated to implement the Grow Your Own Educator Program established in this Act.