Education Sector in the News

From "Race to the Top Narrows to 16 Finalists for School Funds," by John Hechinger, March 4, 2010, Bloomberg News:

"The U.S. Department of Education chose 15 states and the District of Columbia as finalists to receive grants from a $4.35 billion fund to improve student performance.

Florida, Louisiana and Tennessee, which developed technology to track individual student achievement, were among the states selected, according to a statement today from the Education Department. The winners will be announced in April.

Forty states and the District of Columbia applied to the Race to the Top fund, the largest pool of federal discretionary education money in U.S. history. The grants reward school systems for finding ways to strengthen standards, recruit better teachers, collect data on student performance and fix failing schools in ways that can be replicated across the country.

"These states are an example for the country of what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in an e-mailed statement.

The other states selected as finalists were Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Multiple Factors

Fewer than ten states in this first round of funding may win grants, Duncan said in a conference call with reporters. The states will receive no more than $2 billion in total in this round of funding, he said. Finalists achieved more than 400 points on grant reviewers' 500-point scale, though Duncan declined to offer specifics.

"There are multiple, multiple factors," Duncan said. "We looked at every state comprehensively."

Andrew Rotherham, co-founder and publisher of Education Sector, a nonprofit group in Washington that analyzes school policy, said some of the finalists were a surprise.

"There are states on the list that are not heavy hitters on reform," he said.

Rotherham cited New York, which had resisted striking down limits on charter schools, one of Duncan's favored approaches to changing education. Charter schools are publicly funded and operate outside the traditional system. They may have more flexibility in curriculum and often don't use unionized teachers. ..."

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From "States 'Race' To Adopt Obama's Schools Policies" by Alan Greenblatt, March 4, 2010, NPR:

President Obama has been prodding states to take a new approach when it comes to education policy. His most effective tool: money.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Thursday the 16 finalists for the first round of "Race to the Top" funding. That's a $4.35 billion pot of money created by last year's stimulus law. The finalists are Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Grants will go to states that are pursuing education policies most in line with Obama administration priorities, such as lifting caps on charter schools and paying teachers more for performance.

Setting New Standards

The federal government still provides less than 10 percent of the $600 billion spent annually on K-12 education nationwide. But no previous education secretary has had this much money at his disposal. (Federal education dollars are typically doled out according to set formulas.)

Before a penny has been released, Race to the Top has proven to be a strong incentive. Forty states and the District of Columbia have applied for grants. Ten states have gone so far as to change laws to comply with administration goals and become stronger candidates for the cash.

"There's no question those of us in Wisconsin want to have as strong an application as we can to get at the $4.35 billion," Wisconsin Senate Education Committee Chairman John Lehman said last November, as his chamber debated a package of four bills meant to please Duncan, who had called the state's education laws "ridiculous" during a Madison visit the day before.

Duncan has set aside $350 million from the fund to help states pay for tests that would comply with a new set of common standards. Standards are the basic material that students are expected to know at each grade level.

The National Governors Association and other groups have been drafting the new standards, which all but two states have agreed in principle to consider adopting. Duncan has made adherence to the standards a key criterion for receiving Race to the Top grants.

"The amount of state-level policy changes in the last few months that this has generated is really unprecedented," says Andrew Rotherham, co-founder and publisher of Education Sector, a Washington-based think tank. "It was an ambitious set of proposals for reform, and it came at a time when states needed money." ...

Read more from this article on NPR.