Senator Buckson Urges Delaware to Rethink SAT’s Role in Measuring School Success
February 5, 2026/
State Senator Eric Buckson is leading a statewide discussion on how Delaware measures high school success, questioning the SAT’s role as the primary measure of school performance and student proficiency. A former public educator and coach at Polytech High School, Buckson says the SAT has value for college-bound students but was never designed to measure mastery of state standards or classroom effectiveness, arguing it offers only a limited picture of student readiness after graduation. Under current policy, every Delaware 11th-grader is required to take the SAT at the state’s expense—about $51 per student. During the 2023–2024 school year, 9,494 students took the exam, even though many do not plan to attend college. Buckson is calling on education leaders and policymakers to modernize the state’s accountability system to better recognize success in career and technical education, apprenticeships, and direct entry into the workforce, citing shifting postsecondary trends and strong demand from Delaware employers for skilled workers.