Press
Great Race: Can NY fix faults in time?
(From Crain's Insider, March 30, 2010)
By ERIK ENGQUIST and DANIEL MASSEY
Education insiders pored through a 44-page technical review form released by the U.S. Department of Education yesterday and discovered that New York had come up 35 points short in its first attempt to win up to $700 million in federal Race to the Top funds--next to last among the 16 finalists.
Gov. Paterson blamed the state's failure in the first round on legislators' inability to institute reforms: "It was rather obvious that we lost points in the scoring, as I warned back in January, because we did not raise the cap on charter schools [and] because we were not aggressive enough in removing legislation that would ban the linking of teacher evaluations based on student performance."
New York received only 27.4 out of a possible 40 points in the category aimed at ensuring successful conditions for high-performing charter schools. "This is one of the areas where we can pick up points [for the second round of funding]," says Joe Williams, president of pro-charter group Democrats for Education Reform. "New York would have a pretty well-rounded application if we did improve the charter score."
Applications for the next round, when a pot of $3.4 billion will be available, are due June 1.
Continue reading "Great Race: Can NY fix faults in time?"....
March 29, 2010
Local Buy-In Helps Two States Win Race to Top
(From Education Week, March 29, 2010)
By MICHELE MCNEIL and LESLI A. MAXWELL
Delaware and Tennessee beat out 14 other finalists today to win the first-round competition for $4 billion in Race to the Top Fund grants, as U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan delivered on promises that he would set a "very, very high bar" for the economic-stimulus money.
Mr. Duncan praised the two states, which edged out front-runners Florida and Louisiana, for mustering strong district and teachers' union support for their plans, for having superior data systems, and for submitting comprehensive proposals that touched "every single child" statewide.
"We now have two states that will blaze the path for the future of education reform," Mr. Duncan said in a conference call with reporters (6.1MB|MP3). "This isn't about funding nice pilot programs. This is about taking student achievement to an entirely different level, and doing it at scale."
Delaware, which was ranked No. 1 on the competition's 500-point grading scale, will win about $100 million, while Tennessee, which came in second, will garner about $500 million.
Georgia missed the cut by just over 10 points, coming in third, while Florida, Illinois, and South Carolina, in descending order, rounded out the top six. Forty states and the District of Columbia applied in round one of the competition.
Continue reading "Local Buy-In Helps Two States Win Race to Top"...
Group working to change charter cap laws
(From The NY Post's Knickerbocker blog, March 29, 2010)
By MAGGIE HABERMAN
The news of the omission of New York from the Race to the Top winners today brought a statement from a newly-formed coalition - under the umbrella of Education Reform Now - which will focus on changing the laws governing the charter cap in the state.
The group seems to put several players in the charter-cap debate into one organized effort, and the group's statement describes them as "a new coalition launched to ensure that New York receives $700 million in federal Race to the Top dollars that will go towards making sure that public school students get the education they deserve."
It adds, "Members include Democrats for Education Reform, the New York Charter Schools Association and the New York City Charter School Center."
Education Reform Now was an arm of DFER, whose executive director is Joe Williams, a former education reporter, and being used as an umbrella for the others (NYCSA and the NYCSC have worked on various issues with individual charter schools, including policy and advocacy.
The charter-school cap in New York was known to be an issue in the push to acquire the coveted RTTT funds, and the state's exclusion from selection wasn't a surprise. But the new group suggests a more streamlined effort moving ahead.
Continue reading "Group working to change charter cap laws"....
Colorado out of first-round Race to the Top running
(From The Denver Post, March 29, 2010)
By JEREMY P. MEYER
Colorado did not win in the first round of the federal education grant competition known as Race to the Top, the U.S. Department of Education announced this morning.
The winners are Tennessee and Delaware.
"We received many strong proposals from states all across America, but two applications stood out above all others: Delaware and Tennessee," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "Both states have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools. They have written new laws to support their policies. And they have demonstrated the courage, capacity, and commitment to turn their ideas into practices that can improve outcomes for students."
Delaware will receive approximately $100 million and Tennessee $500 million to implement their comprehensive school reform plans over the next four years.
Colorado was among the 16 states out of 40 and the District of Columbia tabbed as first-round finalists for a share of $4 billion in school improvement money.
Colorado applied for $377 million to augment its reform efforts, specifically to develop a cross-state data system.
Continue reading "Colorado out of first-round Race to the Top running"....
As Race to the Top Winners Announced, Spotlight Now Turns to Losers
(From Newsweek's The Gaggle, March 29, 2010)
By PATRICE WINGERT
Delaware and Tennessee, two states that have aggressively pursued school reform, are the winners of the first round of the U.S. Department of Education's $4.3 billion Race to the Top competition. Because the awards are based on student population, Delaware will win $100 million and Tennessee $500 million at a time when most recession-weary states are scrambling to close widening budget gaps.
The fact that only two of the 16 finalists made the last cut was cheered by reformers, who publicly lobbied the DOE to set the bar very high, and award only those states that made a massive commitment to change. Tennessee exhibited its determination to win by reconvening its legislature to push through bills removing its cap on charter schools, as well as overhauling its teacher-evaluation system to include student achievement data, both key requirements in the competition. Delaware was rewarded for a decade of steady progress toward comprehensive reform.
But maybe even more interesting is the list of "losers."
Continue reading "As Race to the Top Winners Announced, Spotlight Now Turns to Losers "....
Delaware, Tennessee 'win' educational grants
(From USA Today, March 29, 2010)
By GREG TOPPO
Part of the larger federal stimulus plan, most of its $4.35 billion eventually could reach as many as 17 states and affect millions of children. But in the first round, tiny Delaware will get $100 million; Tennessee will get $500 million. Together the two states enroll slightly more students than New York City.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Duncan said Round II would feature as many as 15 states, which will be announced in September. "We want to fund as many strong proposals as possible," he said.
Continue reading "Delaware, Tennessee 'win' educational grants"....
March 27, 2010
Judge Halts New York City's Plan to Close 19 Schools
(From The Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2010)
By BARBARA MARTINEZ
A judge on Friday halted a plan to close 19 New York City schools, a ruling that could place New York state in an unflattering light as it competes for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Race to the Top funding.
State Supreme Court Judge Joan B. Lobis in New York County ruled that the nation's largest school system had failed to properly inform parents and the community about the impact the school closures would have on students.
"We plan on seeking an immediate appeal," said Michael A. Cardozo, New York's corporation counsel, in a statement.
He defended the city's Department of Education against the suit filed by the United Federation of Teachers and the NAACP, among others.
Mr. Cardozo said the city believed it had followed all the procedures required to close the schools, and that unless the ruling was reversed, the city would have to "keep open schools that are failing our children."
Joel Klein, the city's schools chancellor, has made school closures a hallmark of his turnaround strategy, having closed more than 90 since 2002.
"It's very unfortunate that in order to protect jobs, the union is trying to force kids to go to what are clearly failing schools," said Mr. Klein. "I think it goes against the clear thrust" of what the Obama administration has been advocating--to close "the bottom 5% of schools, the dropout factories."
While closing schools with low test scores and graduation rates, Mr. Klein has opened smaller schools that tend to outperform the schools they replaced, according to the education department.
Continue reading "Judge Halts New York City's Plan to Close 19 Schools "....
