The Rick Jensen Show Better School Boards equal Better Schools. First State Educate's Julia Keleher explains with Rick Jensen & invites you to apply
Nov 24, 2025
Julia Keleher, Executive Director of First State Educate, dives into the importance of trained school boards for enhancing K-12 outcomes. She discusses Delaware's dismal 45th national ranking in reading and math, advocating for data-driven policies to elevate student success. Julia highlights community engagement challenges and introduces a pilot survey in the Christina School District to improve board transparency. She also shares insights on board member training needs and the organization's candidate support initiatives to foster qualified school board candidates.
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Delaware Lags But Can Improve
- Delaware ranks 45th nationally in reading and math outcomes according to Julia Keleher.
- She argues focused, data-informed, evidence-based decisions can unlock significant improvement.
Create Two-Way Community Channels
- Fund programs that give school board members tools to engage their communities.
- Use resources to build two-way communication channels rather than rely solely on public comment periods.
Christina's Public Question Pilot
- Christina School District will pilot an online survey where the public can submit questions for board interviewers.
- First State Educate will facilitate the survey and channel themes into a 90-minute candidate interview on December 8th.