By Nancy Mercante
President, Citizens for Delaware Schools
In August, I wrote on the opinion page of The Dialog about the failures of public education in Delaware.
Regretfully, the situation has gotten worse. The low-performing students are falling further behind, leaving them with a bleak future. We owe it to these students and the taxpayers who pay for their education to ensure the best use of our hard-earned tax dollars.
As I said in August, Catholics have a moral obligation to insist that public education is working well to enable all children to live up to their God-given potential.
So, where are we now? According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Delaware’s 2024 test scores for reading and math remain among the worst in the nation and have not improved for years. Only about three of 10 Delaware students can read and do math at grade level. What will become of the other seven who did not do well? What hope do they have for a good life?
These poor results won’t change dramatically unless we elect student-centered, common-sense school board members who focus on improving academic outcomes. Unfortunately, only 3% of eligible adults vote in their local school board elections, an abysmal case of apathy and disinterest. Although these elections occur every year in early May, they are not highly publicized in advance, so nothing changes. Recruitment of candidates with fresh ideas is extremely difficult and gaining support for those who step forward to freely give their time to improve our schools is impossible if no one knows or cares about the election. So few people vote that yours can be the difference. In recent years, some elections were won by only a few votes.
School board elections this year will be held May 13. My request for you, your family and friends is to please mark your calendar for May 13 and plan to vote this year.
School Board elections are non-partisan, so political affiliation doesn’t matter. The issues are all that matter.
We ask all candidates to submit their positions on key issues for inclusion in the Citizens for Delaware Schools Voter Guide. We publish their responses in their own words on the CitizensForDelawareSchools.org website. While many respond, some don’t. By reviewing the voter guide on our website, you will learn where each candidate stands as well as other information about the election.
Please honor your civic and moral obligation to support our public-school children by voting on May 13. Together, let’s make this the year we show up to vote for the kids.
Nancy Mercante is founder and president of the nonprofit Citizens for Delaware Schools.
