What’s New

State selling myths about gas vehicles

From: Cape Gazette

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

A Delaware agency is preparing a regulation to require auto manufacturers to sell only electric-powered vehicles. EVs now account for less than 1% of new vehicle sales. This is an effective ban on cars and trucks powered by gasoline. The state is selling this to the public with a series of myths highlighted below. 

EVs will end motor vehicle air pollution. Conventional vehicles have already reduced two pollutants 83% and 91%, respectively, and will continue to fall rapidly as older vehicles leave the fleet.  Delaware meets all air pollution standards. We have clean air. Much of our electricity comes from coal- and natural gas-powered plants. Line losses waste 11% of that power, and another 10% is lost converting from AC current to DC current to charge the batteries. Many studies show EVs cradle-to-grave emissions are higher as minerals used in 1,000-pound batteries require moving 150,000 pounds of dirt and rock. In the end, very little carbon dioxide is saved, if any. 

EVs will save on fuel cost. Most EV charging is done overnight at home at lower rates, but as more EVs hit the road, special rates will end. EVs currently don’t pay taxes for road repairs. New taxes are coming based on miles driven using intrusive devices to track driving. Massive investments needed in electricity infrastructure to support charging will drive electric rates up.  

EVs will be price competitive. There are nine vehicle models available both as conventional and EV options. The average price premium for the EVs is $14,000. Federal legislation provided $7,500 per EV subsidies and many auto manufacturers raised vehicle prices by about that amount. Caution should be shown in buying a used EV. GM’s list price for a replacement battery at eight years or 1000,000 miles is $16,250 plus $870 to install it. 

The proposed regulation is not a ban on gasoline-powered vehicles. Once the 100% EV requirement goes into effect, you will not be allowed to register a new gasoline-powered vehicle in Delaware. That’s a ban. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is forcing the new regulation based on regional pollution violations. New Castle County is included in a greater Philadelphia non-attainment region.  However, the county and the 10 next closest upwind air quality monitoring stations now meet all air quality standards, proving the county is not contributing to upwind pollution. Delaware is now in a position to petition to be removed from the non-attainment region. Doing so reduces the stringency for new air quality permits and is considered and economic development advantage.

An underlying question is if all these myths are true, why is a government mandate even needed? Won’t people flock to buy EVs? Anyone who wants to buy an EV should be able to, but without government-enforced subsidies or mandates. See our public comments to the state on the proposed regulation for detailed sources at tinyurl.com/5n6mdp6a.

Governor Carney Releases Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) Board Report

From: Delaware.gov 

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney on Friday released the sixth annual report of the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) Board. Governor Carney established GEAR by Executive Order #4 in February 2017 to identify ways for state government to operate more efficiently, improve the delivery of state services, and provide cost savings.

The report highlights key accomplishments and ongoing efforts across state government in 2022, including:

• Development of continuous improvement professionals within state government is expanding.  Fifty-two practitioners from fifteen state organizations are executing projects within a portfolio of one hundred twenty-five initiatives. Savings to the state are estimated to total $61-65 million over the life of projects underway.
• Savings and improvements for taxpayers are being achieved through lease restructurings, refined state vehicle (FLEET) utilization, long-term care delivery optimization, scanning/self-check equipment in Delaware’s libraries, the development of trauma informed care practices for children and families, automated state park fee collection, along with streamlined financial, human resource and information technology systems.
• Reviewing capital project processes within public school systems remains a priority through the EdGEAR (Education-GEAR) team with a comprehensive review of all parts of this process currently underway.
• Driving improvements to digital government services allowing citizens to access and transact with the state anytime, from anywhere, and on any device.
• Continuing the GEAR P3 Innovation and Efficiency and Trailblazer Award programs that rewards state employees who demonstrate successful implementations of innovative, cost saving, and service enhancing continuous improvement projects.
• Reimagining State Service Center delivery in Delaware which will improve how citizens apply for benefits such as food assistance, cash benefits, healthcare, and housing.
• Expanding high-speed, broadband internet service in Delaware’s underserved areas through public-private partnerships.

“As the GEAR Board performs its valuable role and we continue to train employees across the State, our state government is finding ways to save taxpayer money and foster a culture of continuous improvement.” said Governor Carney. “GEAR’s efforts to improve data-driven decision making are exactly what we need to generate service improvements and communicate the value of savings that are being achieved for Delawareans.”

The Board’s report, released each December, also provides policy and budgetary recommendations for possible inclusion in the Governor’s agenda and budget for Fiscal Year 2024.  Governor Carney’s budget proposal will be released on January 26, 2023.

Recommendations in the 2022 report include:

• Support the Ready in Six permitting improvement initiative by investing in recommendations for specific process improvements being gathered through a survey distributed to over 1,500 industry focused partners.
• Expand participation in the Continuous Improvement Practitioner (CIP) Training program and a new project and process leadership training path by increasing funding for the First State Quality Improvement Fund (FSQIF).  Support recommended amendments to the FSQIF modernizing language to reflect current best practices and GEAR’s role.
• Identify and implement changes in the state personnel system by establishing job classifications for “project managers” and “Lean business process analysts” in partnership with the Department of Human Resources.
• Support investments to procure and use best practice project portfolio management and business process management tools.  The use of common tools facilitates collaboration across the enterprise, avoids duplication of effort, increases the precision of estimating quantifiable outcomes, and improves the efficiency of the state’s business processes.

“The ability to quantify outcomes is as important as the development of the skills applied to delivering efficiencies,” said Charles Clark and Daniel Madrid, Executive Director and Deputy Director of GEAR respectively, and Bryan Sullivan, Director of Management Efficiency at the Delaware Office of Management and Budget. “The Enterprise Services Delivery and GEAR Field teams represent fifteen state organizations that are delivering value through the execution of numerous projects aimed at achieving cost savings, estimated to total $61-65 million over the life of projects underway.”

###

Delaware’s jobless rate up slightly to 4.4%

From: Delaware Business Now 

Delaware’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in November was 4.4%, up from 4.3% in October 2022, the Delaware Department of Labor reported.

There were 21,800 unemployed Delawareans in November 2022 compared to 23,900 in November 2021. The US unemployment rate was 3.7% in November 2022, unchanged from October 2022. In November 2021, the US unemployment rate was 4.2%, while Delaware’s rate was 4.8%.

Delaware has one of the highest jobless rates. It was tied for the 46th spot (See the chart below, which lists the jobless rate and the national ranking.

In November 2022, seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment was 462,600, down from 463,500 in October 2022. Since November 2021, Delaware’s total nonfarm jobs have increased by ,800, an increase of 2.2%. Nationally, jobs during that period increased 3.2%.

While total employment in Delaware is up by 9,800 from a year ago, the state did see a loss of 1,700 jobs in hospitality in November. Still, jobs in that category were up by 3,200 over the previous year.

Delaware Population Consortium approves 2022 projections, but questions about accuracy remain

From: Delaware Public Media

Delaware sees second record month of overdose deaths in 2022

From: Delaware Public Media

It’s Open Enrollment Season for ‘School Choice’

From: Caesar Rodney Institute 

New survey examines workforce needs of Delaware business owners

From: Delaware Public Media

Many Del. districts don’t evaluate superintendents annually

From: Delaware Live

Even though the job of superintendent of education is one of the most powerful in a school district, many Delaware districts don’t perform annual reviews of theirs.

“Some boards have a formal review, and some don’t,” said Donald Patton, board member of Christina School District. He was a teacher and principal for decades before being elected in May.

Advocacy group First State Educate is learning that annual performance evaluations for school districts are not common.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars, learning outcomes where they are, and incredibly challenging teaching conditions means the stakes are very high for quality and sustainability, “says Laurisa Schutt, executive director. “Evaluations can be collaborative learning tools that focus us on our top strategic priorities. Without feedback, it’s hard to know where we are and how we are progressing. “

Two of the primary duties of school boards is selecting and supervising the district superintendent.

“School board members do not have to be experts in any one area, but they need to be able to ask the right questions and acquire information essential to making good choices,” says the National School Board Association website. “Finances, curriculum and testing, strategic planning, state and federal legal requirements, and evaluating the superintendent’s performance are some of the demands on modern school boards.”

Why evaluate the superintendent?

The average salary for superintendents in America is well into the six figures, with some making more than $200,000, according to a study from the School Superintendents Association.

“We’re paying all this money for the superintendent, and we give him raises that are not tied into anything, he just gets to raise,” Patton said. “Raises should be tied into success and progress and If it’s not, then why are we automatically rewarding them?”

Christina’s school board is now deciding the best instrument to use to evaluate its superintendent, Dan Shelton.

In late September, Dr. John Marrinuci, executive director of the Delaware School Boards Association, presented a new review process to the board. It had been created by a different district’s board member as part of her doctoral dissertation.

The proposed review would evaluate a superintendent’s ability to meet expectations in vision and goals; teaching and learning; professional responsibilities; superintendent’s goal; and people, systems, and operations.

Naveed Baqir, who serves on the Christina board with Patton, said the agendas of school board members change partly because the members themselves change over the years. That may be one reason many districts don’t have a formal annual review.

Some board members may use annual evaluations to express their frustrations that their own agendas are not thriving, Baqir said.

A board member also may think the superintendent is meeting his or her requirements but wants something more out of the district as a whole.

“That’s where that constant update is required,” he said. “That’s why most school districts, especially when there’s a major change in the board membership, end up in a situation where they want a new evaluation tool.”

Even if a district does have some performance review, its board members won’t always agree on what to include, as the case with Christina.

Some of its members have asked for more specific metrics such as student achievement and test scores, rather than simply checking a “meets expectations” or “does not meet expectations” box.

Baqir points out that if every district had a formal, end-of-the-year superintendent evaluation, they would need to make it unique and reflective of the needs and goals of a particular district.

“We always lobby for flexible evaluation tools for students, because every kid has a different set of capabilities,” Baqir said. “So if you measure every student with the same yardstick, every single aspect of their personality and development, that is not going to be fair to all children.”

The same goes for superintendents, he said.

In Colonial School District, the superintendent is formally reviewed whenever his/her contract is up. Contracts for superintendents are typically one to five years, Menzer said.

However, there is still feedback given to Superintendent Jeff Menzer every year.

“Every December and January, regardless of whether or not you’re due up for renewal as superintendent, the board, during executive session, reviews the superintendent’s performance,” Menzer said, “and they just share feedback and observations with myself in terms of what they expect and want to see moving forward with me as the leader.”

Still, Menzer said the relationship and communication between him and the district school board results in clear expectations.

“I’m the board’s loan employee. I work for them,” Menzer said. “They do not manage and control anything in the district except for me, and when there’s a problem or concern with my performance, they address it with me directly.”

While there isn’t a specific worksheet or checklist in Colonial, Menzer says establishing expectations each year and checking in with the board during Winter has the same outcomes that a formal review would.

“So while it’s not formal between me and the board, it’s expected that I’m performing at a level that they deem appropriate,” he said. “They let me know when there’s something I need to address, or handle based on my performance.”

Enrollment in state charters went up 5.1% during pandemic

From: Town Square Live 

Over the course of the pandemic, enrollment in Delaware charter schools increased 5.10%, while traditional public schools’ student body dropped 1.14%.

That’s according to a report published in November by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. It found that traditional public schools lost students in nearly every state.

The First State’s traditional public schools lost 1,423 students from 2019 to 2022, according to the report.

“We weren’t surprised to see that,” said Kendall Massett, executive director of the Delaware Charter Schools Network.

Delaware charters generally are limited to a specific number of students when the state approves them.

During the past three years, Massett pointed out, several charter schools in the state, such as Odyssey and Newark charters, were granted expansions.

In fall 2020, another charter, Sussex Montessori School, opened its doors, which Massett said led to additional students leaving district schools for the charter alternative.

Not all charter schools are so lucky. Great Oaks Charter School, which has a lot of underprivileged students, saw its enrollment drop for many reasons and is now waiting for the state to say whether it will have to close.

Every year of the pandemic, Delaware’s charter school enrollment has gone up.

There are 18,223 students who go to charters, a little over 12% of the public-school population, according to Massett.

But Massett doesn’t believe charter schools are the main actors in attracting students away from traditional public schools.

“We also saw private school numbers go up, and homeschool numbers go up,” she said, citing enrollment spikes in Saint Mark’s High School and Wilmington Friends School.

Saint Mark’s recently announced an $8 million capital fundraising campaign as part of their efforts to expand.

It came just months after Newark Charter completed its 21-year expansion by unveiling its $20 million junior high school.

Right now, Odyssey Charter School has a $2 million capital campaign.

“Let me be clear, parents choosing to put their children in whatever school environment they choose to do is their right,” Massett said. “I also believe that we have to do better as a state in terms of getting information about schools, charter or not, to the community.”

Delaware’s Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.