Race to the Top, phase 2: All LEAs invited to participate, but timeline is short
Published: May 11, 2010
State education officials are encouraging local educational agencies to participate in phase 2 of California’s entry in the federal Race to the Top grant competition, but local officials will have to act quickly to commit to as-yet unspecified reforms as required for the state’s application.
“We will need signatures back from LEAs committing to participate by May 21,” Undersecretary of Education Kathryn Radtkey-Gaither told CSBA Monday. “We suggest that any LEAs that may want to participate should calendar a board meeting for the week of May 17, if they need board approval.”
The state’s phase 2 application must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by June 1. A detailed reform plan for the application is being developed for, by a working group composed of Clovis Unified School District, Fresno Unified School District, Long Beach Unified School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District and Sanger Unified School District. Obama administration policies stipulate four reform areas: enhancing standards and assessments; improving the collection and use of data; increasing teacher effectiveness and achieving equity in teacher distribution; and turning around struggling schools.
The reform approach the working group settles on will be incorporated in a memorandum of understanding for the state’s phase 2 application, and LEAS seeking RTTT funding will have to sign on to that MOU. California finished 27th among 41 applicants in RTTT’s first phase, and analysts attribute the state’s poor showing in part to the state’s MOU and the difficulty involved in garnering widespread for the required reforms among the state’s roughly 1,500 eligible LEAs; in the end, little more than half signed on.
“We are hopeful that, with a more specific MOU, California will be more competitive, and look forward to working in partnership with any LEA committed to the reforms in the MOU,” Radtkey-Gaither said.
While no date for release of the MOU has been set, Radtkey-Gaither said LEAs will have time to review it before the May 21 deadline to commit to participate in the phase 2 application. The MOU will be implemented only if California is selected for phase 2 funding.
Winners in the phase 2 competition will be announced in September. California is eligible for as much as $700 million of the $3.4 billion that remains available under RTTT. The phase 1 competition yielded just two winning applications—Delaware and Tennessee. The Obama administration hopes to extend RTTT in future years, and the program’s approach to reforms has defined the administration’s broader education policies as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—the cornerstone of federal education law—proceeds toward reauthorization.
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