Spotlight Delaware

Discussions surrounding schools’ needs in #Delaware typically focus on areas like addressing teacher retention and student behavior. But facilities conditions are not at the forefront, despite being students’ learning and educators’ work environments. That may change. School districts have completed their own facility evaluations in the past, but were required to submit responses to a Delaware Department of Education’s facilities evaluation for the first time in May. Now the state teachers' union is pushing for more state investment to resolve lingering facility issues and prepare schools for a future with growing student enrollment. #DelawareSchools #DelawareEducation #NetDE Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/U9Wr50Uh7xM ✍️ Julia Merola/Spotlight Delaware

With the election of a new mayor for the first time in eight years along with three new city council members, #Wilmington’s legislative body is entering a new chapter and signaling a potential shift in direction and focus. Both returning and newly elected council members, along with the mayor, have expressed a shared commitment to tackling long-standing concerns raised by residents, including affordable housing, public safety and clean streets. Some members also plan to hold the city accountable for unresolved issues previously claimed to have been addressed. #Delaware #JohnCarney #ChristianWillauer #AlexHackett #CobyOwens #NetDE Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/1lBh50Uh2LO ✍️ Brianna Hill/Spotlight Delaware

As Delaware begins to grapple with how to change funding of public education to improve student support, another major funding hurdle is emerging: deferred maintenance that is piling up at schools statewide. A first-of-its-kind statewide evaluation of school buildings completed this year by the Delaware Department of Education has identified more than 1,200 needed repairs, ranging from minor issues such as cosmetic deterioration to major needs like leaking roofs, outdated dehumidifiers, malfunctioning air conditioning, and more. Today, it’s common for students to attend schools that were built during the Great Depression in some parts of Delaware. After analyzing the responses from each school district obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Spotlight Delaware found there were more than 1,200 repair notes — ranging in severity from minor to major — across the state. #DelawareEducation #DelawareSchools Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/BIQF50UgW4z ✍️ Julia Merola/Spotlight Delaware

In light of property value reassessments happening across the state for the first time in decades, letters sent to residents have incited panic and confusion about the future of their property values, and in turn, their tax bills. The good news is that sticker shock will fade as the process continues, but the system is very much changing in significant ways. Here’s what to know about Delaware property reassessment. #DelawareExplained #NewCastleCounty #KentCounty #SussexCounty #NetDE Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/GmM950Uggby ✍️ Jacob Owens and Nick Stonesifer/Spotlight Delaware

A July electricity auction that pushed wholesale power prices skyward in the mid-Atlantic has sparked a backlash from state governors, consumer advocates and environmentalists who are calling on an industry-run grid operator to enact sweeping reforms, including faster approvals of proposed wind and solar projects. Last month, governors in five states, including #Delaware Gov. John Carney, sent a letter to the region’s grid operator, PJM Interconnection, that spelled out a foreboding future for homes and businesses unless the company urgently acted to “prevent consumers from paying billions more than is necessary.” The governors said “serious flaws” had taken hold in the electricity market, causing a July capacity auction to return prices of $14.7 billion – a 568% increase from the $2.2 billion cost the year before. #NetDE Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/uTRZ50Ugfkp ✍️ Karl Baker/Spotlight Delaware

More than 400 years ago, the #LenapeTribe once had between 4,000 to 5,000 members spread across New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and #Delaware. A nomadic community that lived in bands along rivers and creeks in small one-room wigwams, the Lenape are considered the “grandfathers” of the Algonquin language tree that binds many East Coast Indigenous tribes. After colonization, disease and displacement though, there are only about 200 active members of the Lenape in Delaware today. A new effort is looking to restore and embrace the culture and community of Delaware's first residents, while also helping the tribe to bring in more families that are eligible for inclusion. #OurDelaware Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/kpqs50Ug6h6 ✍️ José Ignacio Castañeda Perez/Spotlight Delaware 📸 Jea Street Jr./Spotlight Delaware

Your voice belongs at the table. Will we see you at #NavigatingGrowth? Join Editor in Chief Jacob Owens as he moderates a dynamic roundtable discussion with developers, advocacy leaders and community voices, exploring their roles in shaping Delaware’s future. Panelists include Brian DiSabatino, Jill Hicks, Preston Schell and Dale Swain. 🗓️ December 2, 9:30 AM–Noon 📍 Delaware Technical Community College (Owens Campus) Register here 👉 https://ow.ly/GLCe50UfXjQ #Delaware #NetDE #LandUse #SussexCounty #Georgetown

The 153rd Delaware General Assembly will open this January in Dover with new leadership in the House, new members taking office, and a new governor elected to statewide office for the first time. Get a head start on the 2025 legislative year by joining us at the Spotlight Delaware Legislative Summit. Hear directly from legislative leaders about the year’s opportunities and challenges, and connect with fellow advocates, nonprofit leaders and other engaged citizens. #Delaware #DelawareGeneralAssembly #DelawareLegislativeSummit #NetDE 📅 Wednesday, January 8 ⏰ 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. 📍 Delaware State University 🎟️ $95 General Admission | $75 Members (If you become a member, email us to request the discount code!) Reserve you seat 👉 https://ow.ly/iXKL50Uf2GB

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (#DACA) was created through an executive action by then-President Barack Obama in 2012. The program has been ensnared in back-and-forth litigation since the Trump Administration attempted to rescind it in 2017. The legal battles have largely barred any new applicants, known as “Dreamers,” from accessing the program that was created to provide work authorization and temporary relief from deportation to immigrants who were brought to the country as children. The temporary program must be renewed every two years and is not currently a permanent pathway to citizenship. #Delaware #DelawareExplained #Immigration 🔗 Read more: https://ow.ly/ojKn50Ue61m ✍️ José Ignacio Castañeda Perez/Spotlight Delaware 📸 Courtesy of Pax Ahimsa Gethen/Wikipedia

Join the conversation! Reporter Nick Stonesifer will moderate a roundtable discussion on improving the #landuse policy process, featuring panelists David Edgell, Charuni Patibanda, Jeremy Rothwell and Jamie Whitehouse. The clock is ticking — grab your tickets before it’s too late. #NetDE #NavigatingGrowth #SussexCounty #Georgetown 🎟️ https://ow.ly/X3rR50Uc5lA