aka "Race to the Top".
Is the 4.35 BILLION dollars available in federal money through President Obama's "Race to the Top" education reform initiative really going to reform education?
Or is it just a pile of cash that has school districts scrambling over themselves in order to jockey for position to get the biggest slice of the pecuniary pie?
Strings attached?
There is no free lunch folks. This cash is not just going to handed out like treats on Hallowe'en. It comes with a cost. And a lot of questions. Questions like....
Thanks for the cash....but is this like a bottomless cup of coffee? Or does the spigot get turned off at some point [Yup] . And who pays for this stuff once the cash is gone? [John Q. Taxpayer, that's who].
Can existing programs qualify for the cash? Nope! It requires new programs or expansion/enhancement of existing programs. And guess what? That means an investment of additional resources...likely HUMAN resources. And we know what that means...right?
Is it true that teachers must be evaluated based on their performance? Yes...but. And it's a rather lardacious but. Yes, it is true that school districts who want the money must incorporate a teacher evaluation system which " ". But that doesn't mean WKCE scores will or have to be used. The other catch is that each district must NEGOTIATE the performance measures to be used with its teacher's union.
All state applications require attention to a comprehensive approach to four key education reform areas: standards and assessment, improving data collection/use, improving teacher effectiveness, and support for struggling schools.
Applications must also emphasize science, technology, engineering and math; expansion/adaptation of statewide longitudinal data systems; and school level conditions for reform/innovation.
[State School Superintendent Tony] Evers acknowledged that linking teacher evaluations with student test data is “a thorny issue” and added, “There seems to be a real interest in firing teachers or principals and that the school will improve – that’s simplistic and I worry about that type of rhetoric.” U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan said it was “ridiculous” that a state would prevent the use of test data for teacher evaluation. Currently, Wisconsin law prevents this, and state legislators must make this statutory change.
Evers identified other legislative reform changes for Wisconsin including, expanded authority for the state superintendent to intervene directly to improve schools, higher standards for charter schools, and a state requirement for three years of math/science for high school graduation.
Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) opined, “Sometimes I worry this is a ‘race for the money,’ not a Race to the Top.” The state will receive more federal clarifying guidance on the application in October, with a December application deadline. Awards will be announced in March 2010. A second grant opportunity will be available in June 2010, with awards given in September 2010.
What others are saying about the Race For The Top Obviously, I’ve been playing the lecturing schoolmarm about RTT, warning that we have to increase our skepticism and manage our expectations.
I’ve been looking for a pithy way to summarize my concern that states are much more interested in getting these federal funds than in pursuing the reforms those funds are meant to support.
I’ve tried “Trojan Horse” applications and other formulations but nothing has stuck. Fortunately, a state representative from Wisconsin has stepped
up. Rep. Steve Nass pointed out that his state’s firewall legislation that caught the Obama administration’s attention actually will do little by way of reform.
Noting that under the just-passed law, data can’t be used to remove the worst teachers from the classroom and that any evaluation process must be agreed to by teachers unions, Nass questioned the real intent of the legislation....
" This bill does nothing for quality education...This is basically a race for the money, not a race for the top. "
- Flypaper article
aka "Race to the Top".
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