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Delaware Board of Education Comes Under Scrutiny

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DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware lawmakers are eyeing proposals to bring more transparency and accountability to the state school board, if not abolish it.

A legislative committee on Tuesday discussed several recommendations for overhauling the seven-member board of gubernatorial appointees.

The board has been criticized by lawmakers, teachers, school districts and parents in recent years for being heavy-handed and inaccessible.

The committee tabled a proposal to eliminate the board and have its duties absorbed by the Department of Education, local districts and the state teachers union.

But the panel approved several other recommendations, including shifting board meetings to evenings to allow more parents to attend and rotating them among Delaware's three counties.

The committee also wants clarification of the duties of the board and its executive director, and to add two nonvoting public members.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.