The Plan
Understanding the finer details of domestic policy is a tough thing. Even journalists with exclusive access are not privy to the back room deals that are made in Washington. In the weeks to come I will do my best to sort out the best possible information on education reform in this country. Mainly we will take a hard look at how the most recent divergance ,if not replacement, for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will dispense its funding, no easy task given the lack of government transparency.
That new program is Race to the Top (R2T) and last week NPR and many other media outlets reported that Delaware and Tennessee were the first two winners to this competition. This windfall gives Tennessee $500 million and Delaware $100 million for school reform. R2T among other things allows states to apply for federal funds based on how they plan reform, meeting national standards, and showing year to year improvement among students. You can see the Department of Education’s official guidelines here.
NPR also hinted at a political component of R2T. Part of the reason Delaware and Tennessee won was because the reforms proposed by both states had the highest rate of approval by the teachers’ unions in both states. Teachers unions have long been a force in Democratic policies and have been a big supporter of President Obama. Yet this is a a double-edged sword because unions are loath to important reforms backed by President Obama and Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan. Among these include the ability to fire bad teachers and more charter schools.
Even so R2T has created an interesting opportunity for states to show that they can stand out among the pack. Good programs that work will be emulated and bad schools will likely have new managment rather than having funds withheld as was the case with NCLB.
There is still a chance for others states to get in on R2T in the second round of applications. Rick Perry for one has proven indecisive on this issue. He fears loss of state sovereignty if Texas accepts federal funding. That’s a bit of strong concern but he is not alone among Republican officials. Nonetheless as the Houston Chronicle has reported, applications are confidential so its possible that Texas has applied and will apply again. If it does win it could end up with a handsome sum and hopefully better schools.
