About 26,000 students in Delaware, or 22% of publicly funded students, used open enrollment to attend a public school other than their assigned one. K-12 open enrollment, where students are allowed to change which public schools they attend, is an often overlooked school choice policy. While education savings accounts and vouchers attract the most attention, open enrollment helps many students attend schools that are the right fit, especially in blue states like Delaware...

Delaware's Decade of Poor Productivity is unlikely to change... no productivity gains equals no wage gains   By  Dr. John Stapleford Center for Economic Policy and Analysis Over a decade, Delaware has performed poorly on labor productivity and output per employee. The differences in labor productivity explains the differences in the state's business cycles and the persistence of the state's income inequality. With falling labor productivity and output per employee, it comes a

Delaware lags behind its neighbors and the national in its 2010 Census mail participation rate. This appears to be a repeat of the under participation that occurred in the 2000 Census. Currently, Delawares participation rate is 65%, compared to the national average of 68%. For the 2000 Census, Delawares rate was 68%, well behind the national average of 72%.

The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that the south is rising again in Delaware. Due to more restrictive land use regulations in New Castle County (NCC) and the migration of retirees into Sussex County, the past 20 years has seen NCC’s share of the state’s population fall from 67% to 60% as Sussex’s share rose from 17% to 22%. These population changes have shifted the locus of economic action in the state.   There are important qualifications to the

The return to the pre-recession peak level of jobs in Delaware will be a slow process.

Retail trade in northern Delaware seems to be in a funk. Between 2007 and 2014 total inflation-adjusted retail sales in New Castle County decreased 11%. Retail trade employment is down by over 7% and the total number of retail trade establishments has dropped by almost 11%.   What explains this?     First, households are still retrenching from the four decade consumer debt binge that culminated in 2008. The ratio of household debt to wage and salary income has dropped from 2.

No other organization in Delaware does what we do at the Caesar Rodney Institute: provide in-depth, non-partisan analyses of public policy issues and advocate in Dover for better policies_OLD related to economics, the state budget, energy issues and education policy. Every day CRI makes a difference in Delaware. You can help by investing in the CRI policy Center that focuses on the issues of most concern to you.  CRI is a 501(c)(3) , so your contribution is tax deductible to

How will the new fee levied on glass containers affect Delawares gross receipts revenue?

March 28, 2013  I appreciate Delaware Director of Economic Development (DEDO) Alan Levins recent response in the News Journal to my assessment of the condition and immediate future of the Delaware economy ("Writer Misrepresents Delawares Economic Health" March 15, News Journal). I believe readers would benefit from my response. First, Alan is correct that when dealing with change the starting point chosen can make a substantial difference. While Delaware lost jobs between Jan

The sales tax in Pennsylvania is a hefty 6%, while because of the gross receipts tax, the perception is that the sales tax in Delaware is zero. How much of an impact does this have on retail trade in Delaware?   The chart within the full article compares retail sales per $1,000 of residential personal income in New Castle County (NCC) to that of Delaware and Chester counties in Pennsylvania combined. The results are exactly what one would expect. Residential personal income i