This Act changes the current evaluation system for all teachers from the former Delaware Performance Appraisal System II evaluation to a new Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System. The goal of this new evaluation system is to build a culture of professionalism and learning within every school by converting the evaluation system from a teacher-focused to a learning-focused system. It also increases accountability by requiring a beginning, middle and end of the year review of both the teacher’s professional learning goals and student improvement goals. All teachers (not just 4-8 testing subjects) will be held accountable for student growth. The new evaluation system will only apply to teachers. Specialists and administrators will continue to be evaluated under the Delaware Performance Appraisal System II. Under this Act the new evaluation system will be phased in with a minimum of 3 local education agencies participating in a pilot program for academic year 2021-2022, which will sunset on June 30, 2022. Under Section 2 and 3 of this Act, effective academic year 2022-2023, all teachers will fall under the Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System and all specialists and administrators will be evaluated under Delaware Performance Appraisal System II.
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This Act moves the date by which the Department of Education shall submit its annual report to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council from August 1 to October 15 of each year. Moving the date to October 15 will better accommodate the data collection, quality control, and certification process utilized by the Department of Education. Schools and districts are required to enter their data by July 1 and the process of verifying the information and making any corrections necessary to certify the data is usually finished by October 1.
This Act incorporates recent changes adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to Model Law #805 “Standard Nonforfeiture Law – Individual Deferred Annuities” that address the impact on annuity products by the current low interest rate environment. Generally speaking, the standard Nonforfeiture Law requires that an individual deferred annuity contract provide the contract holder with a paid-up annuity or cash surrender benefits of a minimum amount if the contract holder surrenders the policy (e.g. stops making payments) during the accumulation period. The nonforfeiture amount is the deferred annuity’s accumulated value, minus certain charges (such as prior withdrawals and loans), based on interest rate minimums regulated by statute. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, market interest rates have fallen so low as to render unrealistic the old statutory rates that insurance companies were required to use in determining the amount to return to contract holders. The NAIC has determined this threatens the availability of annuity products to consumers and, as such, adopted a change to the interest rate from 1% to 0.15%.
This Act adds a provision addressing the assignability of rights under property insurance policies and authorizes a property insurance carrier to limit a policy’s assignability only to those persons or entities that have the legal authority to represent an insured. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act would allow importers to take orders from retailers any day including Sundays and holidays and process them for delivery.
This bill allows for deviations from rating organization filings to be effective continuously until terminated with the approval of the Commissioner or subsequently modified. This change conforms the law to current practice. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act provides increased funding for kindergarten through third grade students identified as eligible for basic special education services. Currently, basic special education is provided for students in fourth through twelfth grade who are identified as eligible for basic special education and related services; there is no additional unit funding for students in kindergarten through third grade who may be eligible for basic special education services. The Act adds a designation of “K-3 Basic Special Education (basic)” and over three years reduces the number of students comprising a unit from the current 16.2 to 8.4. This Act will increase the unit count funding for K-3 Basic Special Education (basic) students by School Year 2023-2024, Fiscal Year 2024, to be consistent with the 8.4 unit of pupils currently available to students in grades 4 through 12. Sections 1 through 3 of this Act change the funding chart currently in the Code to subsections and provides for a decrease in the ratio between the number of students enrolled and the unit count for basic special education from 16.2 currently to 12.2 in Fiscal Year 2022, 10.2 in Fiscal Year 2023, and 8.4 in Fiscal Year 2024. Section 4 of this Act delays the effect of each Section until the start of each new fiscal year in the 3-year cycle over which this Act’s changes are intended to occur.
This Act leverages technological advances to allow Family Court the flexibility to permit litigants to publish through a legal notices website established by the Court. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including to ensure the consistency of language used throughout the provisions included in this Act.
This bill makes certain technical amendments to the Delaware Voluntary Clean Energy Financing Program Based on Property Assessments (D-PACE) Act. The amendments are based upon comments received from New Castle County and the lending community. The bill clarifies the interplay between the Act and existing tax and foreclosure sale statutes and that the lien for the energy improvements will remain with the property following a tax monition sale and mortgage foreclosure. It also clarifies the authority of the Sustainable Energy Utility and third party capital providers to enforce the lien for delinquent assessments for clean energy improvements.
This Act makes students who attend homeschools eligible for the same services for children with disabilities as students who attend private schools in a manner that allows federal funds to pay for the services. This Act is the result of discussions regarding Senate Bill No. 19, which would make homeschool students eligible for speech therapy services, and accomplishes the goal of Senate Bill No. 19 because through meaningful consultation, speech therapy services are often included in the services provided to students who attend private schools. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.