Press
Charter School Bundlers Help Favored Candidates With Donor Math
(From The Capitol, July 27, 2010)
By CHRIS BRAGG
At a small Spanish restaurant in midtown, then-Assembly Member José Peralta was peppered with questions by a group of about a dozen hedge fund managers.
What was his battle plan to defeat recently expelled State Sen. Hiram Monserrate, whom Peralta was taking on in a special election? What were his specific positions on the issues surrounding charter schools, the hedge funders' pet cause?
Peralta's answers apparently left a good impression: between March 1 and March 15, Peralta received at least a dozen checks from hedge fund managers ranging between $5,000 and $9,000, helping provide the fuel for Peralta's landslide victory.
"A good first date always helps," explained Joe Williams, executive director for the pro-charter umbrella group Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and a former Daily News education reporter, who helps coordinate efforts among the donors. "If they like the guy, they contribute. If they don't, they don't."
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State passed over in second round of Race to the Top
(From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 27, 2010)
By ERIN RICHARDS
Wisconsin lost its bid for $250 million in federal education reform grant money Tuesday, as 18 other states and Washington, D.C., were named finalists in the second round of the Race to the Top competition.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the finalists for $3.4 billion in funding during a speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Those finalists were Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.
This was Wisconsin's final chance to win a piece of the $4.35 billion education reform competition, unless a proposed third round of $1.35 billion in 2011 is approved.
Gov. Jim Doyle criticized the federal government's system for reviewing state applications, while several outside groups criticized Wisconsin for passing weak reform efforts or failing to show it could dramatically change the course of the troubled Milwaukee Public Schools.
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Maryland is Race to the Top finalist
(From The Baltimore Sun, July 27, 2010)
By LIZ BOWIE
Maryland is one of 19 finalists in a national competition for federal education funding that prompted leaders to revamp the state's school agenda in hopes of getting as much as $250 million in the next year.
"I can barely contain myself," said Nancy S. Grasmick, the state superintendent of schools. "We are so excited because there was tremendous work that went into this and it has such potential for our schools."
To make the state more competitive for Race to the Top, Maryland has changed laws governing teacher tenure and evaluations, adopted new curriculum standards and promised to overhaul its system of improving the lowest-achieving schools.
However, Maryland was considered something of an unknown by some education observers because it was one of only a handful of states that did not submit an application last winter during the first round, in which Delaware and Tennessee were chosen the winners.
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As Race to the Top competition intensifies, so do education reforms
(From The Christian Science Monitor, July 27, 2010)
By AMANDA PAULSON
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia are finalists in the second round of Race to the Top, the influential and controversial competition for federal money to help states overhaul their education systems.
In announcing the finalists in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan called Race to the Top part of "a quiet revolution" under way in education reform. He highlighted the reforms it's already prompted states to put in place.
"This minor provision in the [stimulus package] has unleashed an avalanche of pent-up educational reform activity at the state and at the local level," he said.
The finalists - which each received more than 400 points on a 500-point scale in evaluations - are Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. They'll be competing for the $3.4 billion remaining in the program, and they will send teams in early August for the interview portion of the competition. The winners - somewhere between 10 and 15, according to Secretary Duncan - will be announced in September.
Perhaps the biggest surprise on that list is Arizona, which, in Round 1 of the competition, finished 40th out of 41 applicants.
"Arizona was a wild card. Coming in last apparently did not sit well with them," says Charles Barone, director of federal policy for Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). Since the first round ended in the spring, he notes, Arizona has passed two major laws, increasing education funding and revamping the state's teacher-evaluation system.
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NYC's Charter School Grudge Match
(From The Village Voice, July 27, 2010)
By TOM ROBBINS
The city's charter school wars raged all spring. They got about as bitter as legislative battles get, with TV attack ads, tabloid slams, mass rallies, and a high-volume, standing-room-only hearing.
A cease-fire was reached only when a last-minute bill in late May gave charter advocates much of what they sought: a big expansion in the number of these independently run, but publicly funded schools, although with tighter rules and scrutiny.
You'd think that would have quieted things down a bit. But now the long knives are out for three state senators whose tough talk during the debate rubbed charter advocates the wrong way. The trio, led by top target Bill Perkins of Harlem, are now facing well-funded re-election fights. All three lawmakers--Perkins, Velmanette Montgomery of Central Brooklyn, and Shirley Huntley of South Queens--eventually voted for the charter schools expansion after new conflict-of-interest rules and auditing requirements were added. In the end, the bill's only opponents were 14 sour-grapes Republican senators who were mad because the new rules bar for-profit schools.
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Christie uses 'Race to the Top' good news to slam NJEA
(From Newsroom Jersey, July 27, 2010)
By TOM HESTER SR.
New Jersey has been named one of 19 governments to make the final round of the federal government "Race to the Top'' competition for a share of $3.4 billion in education aid.
Gov. Chris Christie welcomed the news Tuesday but also took the opportunity to again criticize the New Jersey Education Association, the statewide teachers union.
"President Obama and (U.S.) Secretary (of Education) Duncan today recognized our administration's plan for bold reform of our state's education system,'' Christie said.
"This announcement affirms our decision to stick with real reform and not capitulate to the watered-down, failed status quo approach advocated by the NJEA Now is the time for New Jersey's leaders to join me to begin enactment of the pillars of real education reform contained within our Race to the Top application -- more charter school opportunities for students, more choice for parents and fidelity to placing student success ahead of union self interest."
NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement today:
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As Race to the Top competition intensifies, so do education reforms
Continue reading "As Race to the Top competition intensifies, so do education reforms"....
