Press
Williams' jaw-dropping coffers for Pa. top post
(From The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 7, 2010)
By ANGELA COULOUMBIS
HARRISBURG - In the race for cash in the gubernatorial campaign, two candidates from Pittsburgh are comfortably leading - but it's a latecomer from Philadelphia who is emerging as the surprise.
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and state Attorney General Tom Corbett are far ahead of their rivals in the May 18 primary when it comes to money in the bank, according to campaign reports released Tuesday. Onorato, a Democrat, has raised about $1.1 million since the beginning of the year and has $6.7 million on hand. And Corbett, a Republican, has raised $1.8 million in that time and has $4 million in his campaign coffers.
But it is Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (D., Philadelphia) who turned political heads with his fund-raising numbers Tuesday.
Williams, who just entered the race in February, has managed to raise $1.7 million since the beginning of the year, the most for that time period in the Democratic field. His contributions included an eye-popping $750,000 from a political action committee that supports school choice.
"For someone not even in the race a month or so ago to have those kind of numbers when there are more established statewide candidates who are struggling - it's eye-opening," said Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, who closely follows state politics.
The other established candidates, said Borick, include Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel and Auditor General Jack Wagner, both Democrats.
Hoeffel has raised roughly $240,000 this year, leaving him with $101,500 in his campaign coffers; Wagner has raised $220,000 this year and has roughly $675,000 in the bank, according to campaign reports.
Continue reading "Williams' jaw-dropping coffers for Pa. top post"....
If size matters, Onorato has biggest war chest
(From The Philadelphia News, April 7, 2010)
By CHRIS BRENNAN
If dollars were votes, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato would hold a commanding lead today in the race for governor.
But state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a fellow Democrat who entered the race in late January, outraised Onorato in the first three months of 2010, according to campaign-finance reports.
Williams raised $1.7 million - mostly from political-action committees - and still had $1.5 million in the bank. Onorato raised $924,972 in the same period and had $6.8 million in the bank.
State Attorney General Tom Corbett, the Republican front-runner in the May 18 primary election, raised $1.8 million in 2010 and had $4 million on hand.
Two other Democrats, state Auditor General Jack Wagner and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, trailed in the money race. Wagner raised $219,337, with $673,127 in the bank. Hoeffel raised $239,498 and had $101,582 in the bank.
State Rep. Sam Rohrer, a Berks County Republican, raised $172,000 and had $7,000 left.
The candidates filed reports yesterday with the Department of State, detailing fundraising from Jan. 1 to March 29.
Continue reading "If size matters, Onorato has biggest war chest"....
Colorado prepares new bid for Race to the Top education grant
(From The Denver Post, April 7, 2010)
By JEREMY P. MEYER
One more time.
Colorado will make a second attempt to win the federal Race to the Top grant competition.
"Our Round 2 application will make an even stronger case for how we will improve student achievement, turn around struggling schools and improve educator effectiveness," Gov. Bill Ritter said Tuesday.
The state will be seeking $175 million -- $200 million less than in the first round -- to implement reforms, including creating a statewide data system and developing a more robust evaluation system.
The big question: Can Colorado write a new application that fixes some of the obvious flaws identified in the state's first application? The state finished 14th among 16 finalists in the first round.
The state was downgraded by reviewers for having a persistent wide student achievement gap among ethnic groups and income levels.
It was criticized for not having a good enough pipeline for bringing in aspiring teachers and principals. It was roundly knocked for failing to get full buy-in from teachers unions and all of Colorado's 178 school districts.
Continue reading "Colorado prepares new bid for Race to the Top education grant"....
April 4, 2010
States Skeptical About 'Race to Top' School Aid Contest
(From The New York Times, April 4, 2010)
By SAM DILLON
A dozen governors, led by Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, sat with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a hotel ballroom in Washington a few weeks back, praising his vision and gushing with enthusiasm over a $4 billion grant competition they hoped could land their states a jackpot of hundreds of millions of dollars.
But for many of those governors, the contest lost some sizzle last week, when Mr. Duncan awarded money to only two states -- Delaware and Tennessee.
Colorado, which had hoped to win $377 million, ended in 14th place. Now Mr. Ritter says the scoring by anonymous judges seemed inscrutable, some Coloradans view the contest as federal intrusion and the governor has not decided whether to reapply for the second round.
"It was like the Olympic Games, and we were an American skater with a Soviet judge from the 1980s," Mr. Ritter said.
Colorado is not the only state where the initial results of the Obama administration's signature school improvement initiative, known as Race to the Top, have left a sour taste. Many states are questioning the criteria by which winners were chosen, wondering why there were only two that won and criticizing a last-minute cap on future awards.
Besides Colorado, a string of other states -- including Arizona, California, Nebraska, South Carolina and South Dakota -- say they have not yet decided whether to keep participating.
Continue reading "States Skeptical About 'Race to Top' School Aid Contest"....
March 31, 2010
City eyes own ' Race to the Top' bid in third round try for educational funds
(From The Daily News, March 31, 2010)
By MEREDITH KOLODNER
New York City schools may have a better shot at grabbing millions of dollars in Race to the Top federal cash if they go it alone and abandon the rest of the state.
In a big embarrassment, the state came in 15th out of 16 Monday in an ultracompetitive battle for $700 million to turn its low-performing schools around.
State officials are trying to boost their chances for a second round in June - but the city already has its eye on submitting its own separate bid in a possible third round.
The third round - which still needs congressional approval - is worth $1.35 billion.
"If it means more money for our kids, we would apply," said Deputy Chancellor John White.
A separate application could be lucrative for city schoolkids, experts said.
"The Obama administration has looked very favorably on the kinds of reforms that [Chancellor] Joel Klein has implemented in New York City," said Michael Rebell, professor at Columbia University's Teachers College.
"That is probably not true of many other districts in New York State."
States battling each other for the Race to the Top money were awarded points by judges based on different achievements and policies. New York came in 15th of 16 applicants.
Continue reading "City eyes own ' Race to the Top' bid in third round try for educational funds"....
This $550 exec seat cost kids millions
(From The NY Post, March 31, 2010)
By YOAV GONEN
The state failed to get a penny in education funds doled out by Washington this week after clueless bureaucrats were dopey enough to admit to the feds they would have blown more than $200,000 on expensive furniture for their offices.
They apparently thought designer chairs, desks and bookcases for themselves were more important than training teachers or turning around failing schools.
The bizarre equipment wish list was so outrageous that three of the five judges who reviewed New York's "Race to the Top" application blasted it in written comments -- focusing on 24 "executive chairs" that cost $550 each, or more than $13,000 total.
State officials also sought 15 regular desks at $3,000 each, nine L-shaped desks at $1,800 a pop and 15 printers that each cost more than $1,500. "There are projected expenses (e.g. $550 for executive chairs) that call into question NY's judgment on responsible stewardship of funds," wrote one reviewer.
Another judge wrote, "These inclusions compromise the state's narrative as a careful steward of public funds."
Continue reading "This $550 exec seat cost kids millions"....
March 30, 2010
As Schools Stay Open, Space May Become Scarce
(From The New York Time's City Room Blog, March 30, 2010)
By SHARON OTTERMAN
New York City public schools are on spring recess until April 7, but that doesn't mean a clean break from anxiety for either the city's Department of Education officials or many public school parents.
A budget decision from Albany looms, with hundreds of millions in education cuts expected. The state failed to win a grant, which could have been worth up to $700 million, in the first round of the Race to the Top federal education contest. In some New York City districts, hundreds of soon-to-be-kindergartners are on waiting lists for their space-strapped zoned public schools.
And now a new question is rippling through the education world: How will Chancellor Joel I. Klein's larger reform agenda be affected by last week's Manhattan State Supreme Court decision to void the closings of 19 low-performing schools?
Mr. Klein's push to close the schools goes hand in hand with his emphasis on smaller schools, which he believes offer better learning environments for the neediest students than large, failing regular schools do. Fifteen small schools, including four charters, were due to move into classrooms next year vacated by the 19 closing schools. Despite last week's ruling, the city has pledged to go ahead with the moves. Assuming the ruling is not overturned on appeal, the 19 schools will stay open for at least another year, potentially leading to tense space-sharing situations.
Continue reading "As Schools Stay Open, Space May Become Scarce"....
