California finishes 27th in Race to the Top, phase 1
Published: March 30, 2010
The emergence of just two winners in phase 1 of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competitive grant program this week raised more questions than answers about the selection process for the controversial new funding mechanism and California’s prospects in phase 2.
Delaware and Tennessee are the only states that will receive grants in phase 1, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Monday. They were among 15 states and the District of Columbia to be named as finalists March 4; California and 24 other states also applied by the Jan. 19 deadline but lost out earlier in the selection process.
Delaware and Tennessee “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,” Duncan said in announcing the winners.
In contrast, less than 40 percent of California’s nearly 1,000 school districts, and little more than half of its 58 county offices of education, submitted memoranda of understanding as requested,
according to a list provided through the California Department of Education
, and not all of those were signed by the local educational agency superintendent, board president and
local teachers union leader, as was recommended to strengthen the state’s application. More than 800 MOUs were submitted altogether, as shown on a CDE list, but that was still little more than half of the
state’s 1,756 total eligible LEAs, which also include charter schools, regional occupation programs and other operations.
LEAs that submitted MOUs
agreed to implement one of RTTT’s four key reforms involving standards and assessments, comprehensive data systems, teacher and principal effectiveness and prescribed turn-around strategies for their lowest-achieving schools.
In addition, the state Legislature enacted special legislation to bolster California’s chances for RTTT, making fundamental changes to education law that remain in effect despite the lack of funding, at least in RTTT’s first phase. The state’s application sought $1 billion, although federal guidelines indicated the state would only be eligible for up to $700 million—and independent analysts said the figure might be half that. Phase 1 winner Tennessee will receive approximately $500 million and Delaware $100 million, according to Duncan. The money will be disbursed over four years as benchmarks are met.
Phase 2 applications due June 1
Monday’s announcement sets the stage for RTTT, phase 2, with applications due June 1 and winners to be announced in September.
“With $3.4 billion still available, we're providing plenty of opportunity for all other states to develop plans and aggressively pursue reform,” Duncan said Monday.
The new process is expected to be as arduous as the initial application was, including securing signed MOUs from LEAs to demonstrate support for the federal government’s approach to reforms and to outline potential local programs seeking the funding. Rick Miller, the deputy superintendent at the California Department of Education who’s credited with a lead role in crafting the state’s phase 1 application, left state government for the private sector last week.
Federal officials posted all applications, reviewer comments and scores Monday to help states fine-tune their applications for phase 2. California ranked 27th among the 41 applicants, scoring 336.8 out of a possible 500 points with its 125-page application and 443-page appendix; reviewers’ comments on the application run 37 pages.
Schwarzenegger and six other governors have already pleaded for more time to prepare for the high-stakes competition, suggesting the deadline be extended to July 1.
“
Our states need more time to properly evaluate the changes needed to resubmit our applications, as well as to engage in meaningful and collaborative discussions with our legislatures, our schools, our unions, and our communities. We need to make informed changes to our applications, whether in the area of evaluations, turnarounds, standards, or data collection. These changes will be stronger if they are informed by the comments of those who reviewed our initial application,” the governors wrote March 16.
CSBA leaders urge careful consideration as California weighs an application for phase 2.
“
CSBA will carefully review and comment on the reasons that California was not chosen to participate in phase 1 of the Race to the Top grant. In the meantime, we continue to advocate for California to model data-driven decision making and develop future education reform around established facts,” Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin said.
“Before the state jumps to ‘bigger and bolder reform,’ it needs to fully understand the reasons why California was not selected as a finalist in this round,” added CSBA President Frank Pugh.
“Our state leaders also need to acknowledge the fiscal pressures that school districts are currently facing and recognize, as did the Getting Down to Facts project commissioned by the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence, that California’s school finance system is irrational, inequitable, inefficient and inadequate.”
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