Every Thursday, REL-NEI highlights state-based resources, press releases, and news around the Northeast and Islands Region related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For a listing of REL Issues & Answers Reports categorized under ARRA topics and domains, click here.
Race to the Top Part Two Heats Up; Vermont Bows Out
As the June 1st deadline looms for second-round applications to the Race to the Top (RTTT) competition, Education Week reports that tensions are rising as states fight for the remaining $3.4 billion in grant money and teachers unions resist growing efforts to link teacher evaluation and pay to student achievement. In an April 23rd article titled, “Tensions Flare in Race to Top’s Second Round,” Massachusetts, Maine, New York, and Rhode Island all are mentioned as states where union support for Phase 2 applications is less than secure. Reporter Michele McNeil writes that the Maine affiliate of the National Education Association is “urging local union leaders not to support the state’s application after lawmakers passed legislation allowing schools to use student achievement as a factor in teacher and principal evaluations.” (An April 28th article in the Kennebec Journal further explores the differing viewpoints of Maine lawmakers and teachers unions on this contentious issue.)
McNeil also cites Massachusetts American Federation of Teachers President Thomas J. Gosnell as saying the mass firing of teachers and other staff in February at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island had caused his union to back away from support for RTTT. “If this can happen in Rhode Island, this can happen here,” Mr. Gosnell is quoted as saying.
Gaining buy-in from local districts and unions is considered essential for strong RTTT applications, as nearly 20 percent of the competition’s 500-point grading scale depends on it. The two first-round winners—Tennessee and Delaware—were praised by Education Secretary Arne Duncan for having statewide buy-in for their RTTT applications and reform plans.
In Vermont, Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca announced on April 26th that his state will not be applying for an RTTT grant, potentially worth $40 million, because such RTTT requirements as demanding states adopt charter-school legislation or link teacher pay to student performance do not match the state’s own approach to reform.
“The strategies required in Race to the Top may be entirely appropriate for some states,”
Vilaseca said in a press release. “But Vermont’s strengths and challenges require different strategies. Our approach to improvement involves the entire system, PreK through 12 and beyond, and a statewide system of support for all schools. The focus of Race to the Top is not aligned with our statewide approach, and it would require significant policy and legislative changes that are not consistent with the good work happening across the state.”
Read an April 27th article on Vilaseca’s decision in the Burlington Free Press.
Vilaseca also was one of 13 state education commissioners from rural states to sign an April 27th letter to Secretary Duncan, detailing their concerns about the effects of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) education initiatives like RTTT and the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program on education in their states.
“As we explained in our call with you recently, many of our districts are considered frontier,” the commissioners wrote. “We articulated challenges faced by districts in the remote areas regarding recruitment and retention of principals and staff. The challenges of these lowest performing districts do not rest solely on the backs of their principal, and we struggle to find quality administrators willing to take the helm of a school in such dire circumstances. Further, the idea of firing half the staff at these schools and finding replacements is a virtual impossibility. We are asking for flexibility for intervention programs that work in the specific communities that can truly address the roots of the issues our students face, such as extreme poverty, isolation and lack of quality services.”
New Hampshire Commissioner Virginia Barry and Maine Commissioner Susan Gendron also signed the letter.
Speaking of Gendron, Maine Gov. John Baldacci announced on April 14th that she will step down as the state’s education commissioner to become policy director for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which is a group of more than 35 states competing for a share of $350 million in RTTT funds dedicated to the development and implementation of better student assessments. Read more about Gendron’s resignation in The Portland Press Herald.
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is soliciting public comment on proposed amendments to the state’s charter-school regulations, which will implement the new charter-school law passed by the State Legislature and signed by Gov. Deval Patrick in January. The legislation was written in part to strengthen Massachusetts’ first-round RTTT application. The state was selected as one of 16 finalists, but did not win a first-round award. The deadline for submission of public comments in May 6th.
On April 29th, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that 12 national foundations have pledged $500 million to leverage the $650 million Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund, also part of ARRA, which is designed to support and scale up path-breaking new ideas in education reform. The combined funds make more than $1 billion available
to individual school districts, groups of districts, and nonprofits working with districts that submit “evidence” that their innovation works. Education Week reported on April 20th that nearly 2,500 districts, schools, and nonprofits from every state have given to ED that they may apply for the i3 grants. Applications are due May 11th, and awards will be made in September.
For more information, visit these ARRA-related websites across the Northeast and Islands Region:
U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html
State Recovery Sites
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/state-local-tribal-and-territorial-resources
State Education Agency Recovery Sites
Education Week’s “Schools and the Stimulus”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/schools-stimulus/index.html
