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From https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/el-delaware/

Battle for English Learner Equity Heats Up in Delaware
By Janie T. Carnock
January 22, 2018

Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Delaware filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that it underfunds education services for its disadvantaged student populations. Backed by Delawareans for Educational Opportunity and the Delaware NAACP, the ACLU claims that the state's financing policies violate the state constitution, which charges Delaware to provide a "general and efficient system of free public schools" for all children.

The case has important implications, in particular, for the state's fast-growing population of K-12 English learner (EL) students. Over the past twenty years, the number of Delaware ELs has surged, increasing by 428 percent. From 2015 to 2016 alone, ELs grew 15 percent while Delaware's overall student population grew just 1 percent. According to statistics from the Delaware-based Rodel Foundation, the vast majority of these learners-75 percent-speak Spanish at home. Half are also identified as low-income. The overlap between EL and low-income student populations means that barriers related to language and poverty occur concurrently, functioning as a "double jeopardy" for many students.

Read the full article at https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/el-delaware/