…D.C. comes in last
LA Times: California finishes 27th among 41 applicants for millions in funding, losing points because only 56% of school districts agreed to participate
By Kim Geiger and Howard Blume | LA Times
March 29, 2010 | 6:08 p.m | Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington - In a high-stakes competition, Tennessee and Delaware were awarded $600 million Monday, the only states to win grants in the first phase of "Race to the Top," the Obama administration's $4.35-billion education initiative, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.
Duncan said both states showed that they had overwhelming support for their overhaul plans from all stakeholders -- including teachers' unions, parents, and local and state school officials. Such support weighed heavily in the decision. Tennessee will get $500 million and Delaware will receive $100 million.
The two states both committed to turn around troubled schools and create systems for teacher evaluation. The states both plan to build on their use of data to measure student achievement. Tennessee's application also focused on increasing high school rigor and recruiting teachers to rural areas.
Forty states and the District of Columbia had submitted applications in the lengthy and competitive grant awarding process. Tennessee has 964,259 students in 1,731 schools. Delaware has 122,574 students in 243 schools. They were chosen from 16 finalists.
"The fact that Secretary Duncan picked two instead of five or 10 states sets the bar high," said Andy Smarick, an education expert at Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, who has been tracking the grant application and award process.
Of the 16 finalist states, Louisiana, Florida and Rhode Island had the strongest proposals but low support from unions. Kentucky and North Carolina had strong union support but weak proposals, Smarick said.
"Only two states were able to do both things, and those were the states that won," Smarick said. "This seems to give unions a veto in round two . . . the negotiations over the next 60 days are going to be intense."
California finished 27th among 41 applicants, a middling performance even among the group that failed to become finalists. California's application lost points in part because only 56% of school districts agreed to participate and because teacher union involvement was lower still.
One reviewer noted that of the state's 10 largest districts, "Six did not provide signatures of union leaders, including Los Angeles Unified, the nation's second-largest school district. . . . The lack of union buy-in at this stage raises serious concerns."
Other criteria for winning the Race to the Top awards were efforts to build data systems to measure student growth; identifying and turning around low-performing schools; recruiting, retaining and rewarding effective teachers; and adopting standards and assessments to prepare students for careers and higher education.
Reviewers dinged California for a data collection system that falls well short of federal expectations. California's data system received only 17.4 of 47 points. Delaware scored 47 of 47 and Tennessee 43.6 of 47.
In this arena, California has been hampered by a data system unable to track the performance of individual students. Instead, the state system takes an annual snapshot of students grouped by subject and grade, making it impossible to determine which individual students are making progress.
Plans for an enhanced system have been delayed by repeated funding limitations.
The state also lost points for its management of charter schools, which are a central focus of the Obama administration. Charter schools are independently managed and exempt from some rules that govern traditional schools. Still, the winners were only marginally better in that arena.
All 41 applications, their scores and the comments of anonymous reviewers have been posted online to guide states seeking awards in the second round. States have until June 1 to submit new or revised applications.
Unlike in the first round, the second set of applications must not exceed certain budget limits, set by the department based on state size.
California, Texas, New York and Florida must propose award budgets ranging from $350 to $700 million, while smaller states will be working within tighter ranges. Those ranges had been offered as suggestions in the first round, and were exceeded by both of the winning states.
Duncan estimated that, at most, his agency could fund only 10 to 15 additional state applications, although he also is seeking new funding for next year.
WSJ: A Disappointing Start to Race to the Top
Wall Street Journal Editorial
30 March 2010 - The Obama Administration yesterday awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in education grants to only two states, which we're glad to say made good on its promise to set a high bar for its $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition. Less reassuring are the reasons the Administration chose Delaware and Tennessee, as opposed to other worthy states.
In a conference call with reporters, Education Secretary Arne Duncan praised the winning states, first and foremost, for getting local unions and school boards to approve their applications. "Both of them have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools," said Mr. Duncan, even noting that Delaware "has the full support of the teachers union."
After announcing the Race to the Top contest last summer, the Administration said repeatedly that it would reward states that encourage the creation and expansion of charter schools. So it's disappointing that charters weren't even mentioned in Mr. Duncan's prepared statement and that the two winning states have some of the country's weaker charter laws.
States that refuse to cross the teachers unions are unlikely to produce significant education reforms for the simple fact that collective bargaining contracts are the biggest barrier to change. It's not surprising that unions and school boards opposed Race to the Top applications in places like Florida and Louisiana. The reforms being pushed in those states—teacher accountability, school choice—are transformative. By giving unions and school boards such a huge sway over grant money, the Administration is saying that union buy-in matters as much or more than the nature of the reforms.
The Administration has also left itself open to the charge that Race to the Top has been politicized. More than one commentator has speculated that President Obama wants to win support from a pair of Republicans, Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Congressman Mike Castle of Delaware, both of whom will play key roles in the effort to rewrite No Child Left Behind. We hope this didn't figure in the grants, and at least the White House resisted spreading the money to more states, which would have meant a race to the middle.
The good news for states that didn't win is that a second round of grants is forthcoming in September. The bad news for reformers is that the National Education Association will now be raising the price of its "statewide buy-in."
Additional Coverage as of 8:20 PM PDT 29 March:
Wall Street Journal - Neil King Jr - 34 minutes ago
The awards are part of the administration's $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition, which has sparked a nationwide scramble among states to prove which ...
Arne Duncan the heartbreaker and Race to the Top
Washington Post (blog) - Valerie Strauss - 2 hours ago
Just a few weeks ago, Duncan proudly announced that there were 16 finalists in his $4 billion “Race to the Top” competition for cash, er, I mean, ...
Feds poke holes in DC Race to Top bid
Washington Post (blog) - 2 hours ago
The District may well end up with a piece of the Obama Administration's Race to the Top action when the grant competition moves to its second round later ...
Race to the Top winners: How did Delaware and Tennessee succeed?
Christian Science Monitor - Amanda Paulson - 4 hours ago
In announcing the Race to the Top winners, Education Secretary Arne Duncan noted that both states had strong buy-in from almost all districts and teachers ...
Minnesota edges Wisconsin in Race to the Top
BusinessWeek - 3 hours ago
Minnesota got closer to $4.35 billion in federal education grants than Wisconsin, but both states fell well short in the competition for Race to the Top ...
Georgia loses Round 1 in Race to the Top
Atlanta Journal Constitution - Nancy Badertscher - 5 hours ago
Georgia lost out Monday on millions of dollars for education, finishing third out of 16 in Round 1 of the national Race to the Top ...
Delaware, Tennessee Win 'Race for the Top' Education Funding
ABC News - David Wright, Mary Bruce - 4 hours ago
More than $4 billion of stimulus package money was offered through the US Education Department's "Race to the Top'" grant program. ...
As Race to the Top Winners Announced, Spotlight Now Turns to Losers
Newsweek (blog) - Patrice Wingert - 7 hours ago
Besides state pride, the rankings matters because as round one of Race to the Top ends, round two begins, and states don't have a whole lot of time to ...
Tennessee, Delaware schools to get Race to the Top funds
CNN International - Sally Holland - 9 hours ago
Education Secretary Arne Duncan says two states will get education funds under the "Race to the Top" program. ...
School Budget Crisis: Illinois Loses Much-Needed 'Race To The Top' Funds
Huffington Post (blog) - 8 hours ago
Illinois did not make the final cut in its application to the Department of Education's "Race to the Top" fund. Delaware and Tennessee were the only two of ...
Florida out of first round of Race to the Top education grants
MiamiHerald.com - Hannah Sampson - 11 hours ago
The official announcement and news conference about Race to the Top winners won't come until Monday afternoon, but word leaked out in the morning that ...
Georgia loses in Round 1 of Race to the Top
Atlanta Journal Constitution - Nancy Badertscher - 11 hours ago
The state could have received about $400 million as a Round 1 winner in the Race to the Top competition. Some published reports said the state finished ...
DC on bottom in Race to Top
Washington Post (blog) - Bill Turque - 12 hours ago
The Department of Education just announced that Tennessee and Delaware are winners in the first round of the Race to the Top grant competition. ...
And the Race to the Top money goes to .....
Seattle Times - Lynne Varner - 10 hours ago
I'll have to dig into this, as well as how the selection informs Washington state's prospects when it applies for Race to the Top's second round in June.
DC comes in last in Race to the Top
Washington Post (blog) - Monica Norton - 11 hours ago
The Department of Education announced Monday that the District's application in the first round of the Race to the Top grant competition came in last ...
Delaware and Tennessee Win "Race To The Top"
ABC News (blog) - 11 hours ago
... has decided to award hundreds of millions in stimulus funding for education reform to just two states in the "Race To The Top": Delaware and Tennessee. ...
Providence officials await 'Race to the Top' results
WPRI.com - 15 hours ago
The US Department of Education plans to announce the winners Monday afternoon of its "Race to the Top" competition, in which Rhode Island is a finalist.
Illinois loses race for federal education money
Chicago Tribune - Tara Malone - 4 hours ago
US Education Secretary tapped Delaware and Tennessee as the only recipients of the first round of Race to the Top grants that promise $4 billion to states ...
The next heat
Chicago Tribune - 5 hours ago
Illinois wasn't named a winner Monday in the first round of the Obama administration's Race to the Top, a program to divide $4.35 billion in challenge grant ...
In race to the top, Wisconsin finishes closer to the bottom
Wisconsin State Journal - 1 hour ago
In the 'Race to the Top' for federal school funding, Wisconsin finished 26th out of 41 states in the first round. State officials say they'll use feedback ...
In Race to the Top horserace, national school choice group deems Georgia a ...
Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) - Maureen Downey - Mar 28, 2010
On the eve of the US DOE announcement of which 16 finalists win Race to the Top grants, a national education organization deems Georgia a long shot. ...
Fla. fell short in race for federal schools grant
MiamiHerald.com - Bill Kaczor - 4 hours ago
Florida fell short on school district participation and teachers union support Monday in its bid to win a federal "Race to the Top" education grant, ...
Kentucky not named Race to the Top education grant recipient
News Enterprise - Kelly R. Cantrall - 49 minutes ago
In exchange for the money, a state has to show its plans to meet requirements for the four core parts of the Race to the Top plan, which all work to ...
Race To The Top Report Card
West Virginia MetroNews - 1 hour ago
The US Department of Education released its review of West Virginia's request for the first round of Race to the Top fund. The report tells why the state ...
La. to try again for Race to the Top grants
Daily Comet - 1 hour ago
AP Writer NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana's education chief says the state will apply again for federal "Race to the Top" money after losing out in the first round, ...
Why Minnesota lost Race to the Top
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Emily Johns - 58 minutes ago
Minnesota was informed this month that it was not a finalist in the Race to the Top competition for stimulus funds set aside by the Obama administration to ...
Florida Loses First Round for Race to Top
Wakulla.com - Kathleen Haughney - 1 hour ago
“We're codifying what President Obama has called for nationally frankly in his Race to the Top application, and hopefully we'll get some of that money,” Rep ...
RI falls short in first round of Race to Top
Providence Journal - Jennifer D. Jordan - 39 minutes ago
Rhode Island learned Monday that it had not won the first round of the US Department of Education's $4-billion Race to the Top competition. ...
In stunner, Florida doesn't win Race to the Top education grant
Tampabay.com - Ron Matus, Jeffrey S. Solochek - 2 hours ago
Florida was widely considered a leading contender for a share of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's ...
No comments:
Post a Comment