Race to the Top funding was cut to appease conservative Democrats and Republicans

[ProSense]

Education Reforms Will Miss the 'Top' Without Broader Consensus

Reflecting on Last Week's Confrontation Between the Obama Administration and Congress

By Scott Lilly | July 6, 2010

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Cutting the funds for Race to the Top was not Rep. Obey’s first choice. It was demanded by conservative Democrats and a unified phalanx of Republicans—including the four Senators that Alter now thinks will have a change of heart, Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and Olympia Snow (R-ME)—all of whom are willing to borrow virtually any amount of money for foreign military adventures but insist that every dime we spend to protect teacher’s jobs be offset.

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Whatever one might say about the merits of the cutting $500 million or 10 percent of the Race to the Top money in order to give local schools $10 billion to avoid layoffs, it is clear that Secretary Duncan has failed to develop a consensus within his party or within Congress around the proposal. Following the White House’s threat to veto legislation containing $37 billion it claims is urgently needed to fight the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in order to protect the half-billion dollars it claims is essential for Race to the Top, Secretary Duncan spent most of the day calling members of Congress urging them to vote against the Obey amendment. The net result was that 236 House Democrats voted for the amendment while 15 opposed.

Of the 15 voting “no” only a few were supporters of Race to the Top, the majority were Blue Dogs who opposed using the reduced funding for preventing teacher layoffs. Only one democrat of the 30 on the House Education and Labor Committee—the panel that will be responsible for the rewrite federal elementary and secondary education law later this year—voted as the secretary asked them to.

Progressives need to build a solid coalition in support of both financing and reform of our schools. We shouldn’t label people as someone’s “water carrier” if they ask tough questions about what the financing will accomplish or where the reforms will lead. We can’t afford a continuing string of dead ends in education policy. And we can not achieve unity unless we respect each others opinion and have the evidence to support our individual notions of what constitutes reform.

Scott Lilly is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

[johnaries]

1. Figures that Lamar would want to cut it, TN already got $500m.

Why should other states get any?

[ProSense]

2. Guess no one wants to cheer on the conservative Dems

anymore.

[liskddksil]

6. That is the problem with Race to the Top

States should not be pitted against each other to see who most bows down to the latest untested and unproven fads in reform. Charter Schools and merit pay have been tried in districts such as Chicago and preliminary studies shows inconclusiveness. Any reform will prove meaningless without the funding to have enough teachers to keep classes small. Instead of going down the road of competition, all states right now should be given the money to save these critical teaching jobs.

[donco6]

9. I agree

RTTT serves only to homogenize all states' policies on charters, teacher evaluation, and to require evaluations be tied directly to test scores. And since 3 of the 4 options for "turnaround" when your school inevitably falls into the Dogmeat category involve firing half the staff, perhaps reserving some money for teacher FTE would help mitigate those losses.

[earthside]

3. Cut the whole thing.

I'd like to see Congress cut out and junk the entire 'Race to the Top' scheme ... it is ultimately about even more testing (students and teachers), busting the teachers' unions, and transitioning to a 'public-private (ie., charters) school system.

[ProSense]

4. Not going to happen

Responding to Race to the Top

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. That was 9 months ago

[ProSense]

7. So? It's still the same program

and there are still differences to iron out.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. And the members have had 9 months to let the leadership know

how much they disapprove of RttT.

[ProSense]

10. Disapprove, but still willing to negotiate

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In his keynote address, Van Roekel urged educators to take the lead in creating sound education policies and take charge of the teaching profession. He announced that NEA will create a new commission on effective teaching that will bring together accomplished teachers, Association leaders, researchers, and policymakers from across the country to offer recommendations on how teachers can take greater authority over their profession, the quality of teaching, and the quality of public education. According to Van Roekel, accountants, nurses, doctors and lawyers all have a say in the professional standards, processes and procedures that govern their practice, and he says that educators should have that same influence over their own profession.

On the political front, Van Roekel criticized the Department of Education’s focus on grant competitions that reward just a handful of states or districts. He specifically mentioned Race to the Top and School Improvement Grants. “While we applaud the administration for its commitment to fund education, our members are frustrated by the disconnect between what they need each day to support their students and schools and the federal policies that hold up struggling students as products to be tested,” Van Roekel said.

Delegates stepped up and took action this week to influence their members of Congress. At the Representative Assembly’s Legislative Action Center, delegates sent 13,000 email messages to federal lawmakers on education-related topics. More than 840 educators videotaped messages to their senators and representatives in Washington, D.C. Thousands also wrote down on postcards the specific provisions they want to see when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as No Child Left Behind, comes up for reauthorization this fall. Those messages will be delivered to Education Secretary Arne Duncan before the debate heats up in Congress.

Throughout the week, delegates learned more about NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign where NEA affiliates and educators are already making a difference. At Putnam City West High School in Oklahoma City, Okla., for example, graduation rates for Hispanic students are up by nearly 70 percent because of a combination of targeted academic programs, parental involvement and professional development. In Evansville, Ind., administrators and union officials launched an equity schools project to transform schools through professional development for teachers and extended learning time for students. In Denver, Colo., teachers, the union and parents have teamed up to build the Math and Science Leadership Academy, where teachers emphasize collaboration that focuses on student learning.

link

The debate isn't all or nothing. Teachers want their voices heard, but the focus is still on reforming the system. The goal is to come to a consensus on what works.

[YvonneCa]

11. "The debate isn't all or nothing. Teachers want their voices heard...

... but the focus is still on reforming the system. The goal is to come to a consensus on what works." Your words.


We are hearing union voices. We have yet to hear 'teacher voices'. They are all over Ed.Gov...but no one is listening.