Soon-to-be-introduced legislation would replace the state’s controversial standardized tests and introduce reforms that could change education in the state.

Gov. Jack Markell, Lt. Gov. Matthew Denn and Lillian Lowery, education secretary, joined parents and others April 8, to announce plans to introduce bills they say will improve Delaware’s public school system and encourage serious changes in the education system. The changes will qualify Delaware for federal stimulus-package funding.

The bills have more than 20 co-sponsors in both chambers of the Legislature.

Legislation would replace the Delaware Student Testing Program with a system to track student progress over the course of the entire school year. Under the proposed system, teachers would be paid according to how well they perform, and teachers who volunteer to work in high-risk schools will be rewarded financially.

Markell’s office also said those rewards would not go into effect until after the current budget crisis has been resolved.

The legislation would give local schools and districts more discretion over financial decisions but also hold them more accountable for spending responsibly.

Lawmakers included some public suggestions in the bills. Those suggestions include basing teacher evaluations on more than formal assessment, a requirement that 10 percent of available performance-pay funds go to schools that show improvement in student performance, not individual teacher performance, and a provision that performance pay start on a pilot basis.

Other public suggestions include requiring uniformity and transparency in record keeping and accounting, and changing the unit-count date from September to April to allow competition for new teachers.

Bud Mullin, president of the state parent-teacher association, said his group supports the legislation, which follows goals the group outlined in 2007: financial transparency, teacher professionalism, assessment and accountability.

Markell said, “This agenda will help deliver the kind of change our system needs to prepare students to become active citizens and succeed in an increasingly competitive economy. The historic challenges facing Delaware demand we do more with the limited resources we have and encourage innovation. The reforms we are proposing will make our education system even stronger.”

Denn said the legislation reflects President Barack Obama’s focus on rewarding school innovation with funding.

Billions of dollars, part of the federal stimulus package, are available in grants for states that show they are undertaking serious education reform, said Denn.