Delaware
Opinion: Delaware’s charter schools must embrace a new standard of accountability
3-minute read
It’s charter school renewal season once again and now is the perfect time to reflect on what this means for our schools.
Every five years, charter schools are required to renew their charters. The charter is the agreement between the school and their authorizer, the governing body which grants them specific rights, powers, and responsibilities. This is a rigorous process that ensures they are living up to the promises made to their authorizer, board, parents, students, and communities. The process places charter schools under a lot of scrutiny – a level of oversight not typically experienced by district schools, which do not face such renewal requirements. Yet, despite this, there is a common misconception that charter schools operate with less accountability and lower standards.
Charter schools operate with a unique blend of flexibility and accountability. Flexibility allows them to be innovative and creative, but it comes at a cost — strict accountability measures that seem to increase over time. Unfortunately, while the accountability requirements have remained stringent, the flexibility these schools need to thrive has been slowly taken away.
The reality of charter school accountability
During the renewal process, each charter school must prove to its authorizer that it’s providing the outcomes promised when its charter was granted. This comprehensive evaluation covers everything from academic performance, including growth and proficiency, to financial transparency and organizational health. In addition to annual independent financial audits, charter schools must also ensure that they comply with most if not all regulations and maintain a safe and healthy environment for students and staff.
This year, six Delaware charter schools are up for renewal. Each school must provide a wealth of detailed information during this process, including their curriculum, how they plan to support students with learning differences, their academic progress over the past five years, in-depth financial information, and organizational health information. This intense evaluation process pushes these schools to reflect on their achievements and shortcomings, ensuring they are prepared to meet future opportunities and challenges.
A comprehensive review process
While a large part of the process is the review of academic performance, materials utilized and staff employed to meet these outcomes, our schools must also undergo an all-encompassing review of both their financial and organizational performance. Analysis of these areas includes many aspects of both, but two key areas are governance and fiscal management.
Boards of charter schools must receive governance training every three years to maintain high standards of leadership, ensuring they provide proper oversight without overstepping into the management of the school. This governance structure is critical in distinguishing successful schools.
In the financial area, each charter school is required by law to undergo an independent financial audit every year, ensuring transparency and responsible fiscal management. These audits are not only assessed annually and posted publicly on their website but are used as part of the extensive five-year financial performance review. Reviewing these measures is designed to confirm that charter schools are safe and healthy, financially viable and guarantee administrative integrity and full regulatory compliance.
Of note, while district schools are held accountable in different ways, they are not required to renew their existence every five years.
Flexibility paired with responsibility
One of the reasons charter schools are often misjudged is due to the flexibility they are given in how they meet their educational goals. This flexibility is critical — it allows schools to innovate, respond to the needs of their students, and adopt methods that might differ from traditional public school models. Flexibility is not synonymous with a lack of accountability or lower standards. In fact, it often enhances accountability and standards, as schools must prove that their methods are working.
In the end, we must ask ourselves: is there room to offer more flexibility across the board, in exchange for heightened accountability? The goal is the same for both charter and district schools — to provide high-quality education for our children. Charter schools have shown that this can be done through innovation and accountability. After 28 years, maybe it’s time for Delaware to think about how this balance could benefit the broader public education landscape.
Kendall Massett is executive director of the Delaware Charter Schools Network.
Claiming lottery in Delaware
18 states have laws that allow national lottery prize jackpot winners to remain anonymous, but is Delaware among them?
The Delaware Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Wednesday, June 3, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 3 drawing
14-16-38-55-64, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play 3 numbers from June 3 drawing
Day: 5-0-5
Night: 5-6-4
Check Play 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play 4 numbers from June 3 drawing
Day: 4-8-0-2
Night: 6-7-3-9
Check Play 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Multi-Win Lotto numbers from June 3 drawing
03-07-10-27-28-32
Check Multi-Win Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from June 3 drawing
02-05-19-22-24, Star Ball: 06, ASB: 04
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Play 5 numbers from June 3 drawing
Day: 9-0-2-7-1
Night: 4-8-0-0-3
Check Play 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
- Sign the Ticket: Establish legal ownership by signing the back of your ticket with an ink pen.
- Prizes up to $599: Claim at any Delaware Lottery Retailer, in person at the Delaware Lottery Office, or mail your signed ticket and claim form; print your name/address on the ticket’s back and keep a copy/photo for records. By mail, send original tickets and documentation to: Delaware Lottery, 1575 McKee Road, Suite 102, Dover, DE 19904.
- Prizes up to $2,500: Claim in person at Delaware Lottery Retailer Claim Centers throughout Kent, Sussex and New Castle Counties.
- Prizes of $5,001 or more: Claim in person at the Delaware Lottery Office (business days 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) with a photo ID and Social Security card.
- For all prize claims, directions to the Delaware Lottery Office are available online or via mapquest.com for a map.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Delaware Lottery.
Can I claim a jackpot prize anonymously in Delaware?
Fortunately for First State residents, the Delaware Lottery allows winners remain anonymous. Unlike many other states that require a prize be over a certain jackpot, Delawareans can remain anonymous no matter how much, or how little, they win.
How long do I have to claim my prize in Delaware?
Tickets are valid for up to one year past the drawing date for drawing game prizes or within one year of the announced end of sales for Instant Games, according to delottery.com.
When are the Delaware Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday.
- Play 3, 4: Daily at 1:58 p.m. and 7:57 p.m., except Sunday afternoon.
- Multi-Win Lotto: 7:57 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: Daily at 10:38 p.m.
- Lotto America: 11:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Delaware Online digital operations manager. You can send feedback using this form.
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Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
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