Bad day for state education reform; feds say attempts to fix schools not enough to win Race To Top cash

Washington state is not among the finalists for Round Two of the federal Race To The Top competition.

Of the 36 states that applied for Round Two, 18 states and Washington, D.C. were invited to make a presentation to the Department of Education next month. Round Two winners will be announced in September, splitting up the remaining $3.4 billion in the pot.

It is especially punishing for Gov. Chris Gregoire who gambled that keeping the Washington Education Association in the fold – even at the cost of more-tepid reforms – was the key to winning some of the $3 billion left in the Race To The Top kitty.

Not even making the list of finalists is embarrassing and will give ammunition to those who think the state needs to be more aggressive in standards, teacher and district accountability and interventions in failing schools.

Here is a the joint statement from Gregoire, state schools chief Randy Dorn and state board of education chairman Jeff Vincent:

“Today’s news does not mean the end of meaningful education reform in Washington. When we put together our application, we were committed, win or lose, to making sure we would carry out education reform our way, the Washington way. Race to the Top enabled us to spend time creating a road map to our education reform efforts through a draft plan that reflected the work of many diverse groups as well as the good work started by our most recent education laws. We will finalize the plan this fall and use it to prioritize and allocate resources as we move ahead with our state education reform efforts. It is a plan that reflects our views and values, is unique to our state and one that we know will work. In an increasingly competitive economy, we must ensure every child gets access to a quality education.

“We would like to thank and acknowledge the huge effort by everyone who helped put the application together. The staff in the governor’s office, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education, our community partners and the hundreds of local districts, principals, superintendents, school boards and teachers unions who signed on did a tremendous amount of work to help get us this far.

“We are disappointed that the Department of Education did not select Washington to move forward in their competition for these federal education dollars. We knew the process would be extremely competitive. During the first round, only two states were awarded the grant. This round, Washington was competing against 35 other states and the District of Columbia.”

The loss is especially punishing for Gov. Chris Gregoire who gambled that keeping the Washington Education Association in the fold – even at the cost of more-tepid reforms – was the key to winning some of the $3 billion left in the Race To The Top kitty.

And here is the official release from the U.S. Department of Education which includes Secretary Arne Duncan’s statement and his letter to the governors.

“To others who applied, I applaud you for doing so and encourage you to continue your work on meaningful education reform,” Duncan said to those not selected. “The Department pledges to support you and your state in this work by sharing the lessons learned and the materials developed through Race to the Top, and by including you in relevant collaborative learning communities.”

Duncan also held out hope that the losers in Round One and Round Two could get help from Round Three. That is an Obama Administration proposal for an additional $1.35 billion that has not yet been funded by Congress.

Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Rosemary McAuliffe had this to say: “Washington has a clear record of making education reform a top priority, but with 36 states applying for the second round of federal grant money, the competition proved steep. Although we were not identified as a finalist in the RTTT competition, we will not waver in our work towards successful education reform.”

Here is the reaction from the WEA:

Statement from Washington Education Association President Mary Lindquist regarding Race to the Top. 7/27/10

“We learned today that Washington is not among the finalists in the second round of the federal government’s Race to the Top competitive grant program.

While we are extremely disappointed that the federal government did not recognize the collaborative effort between the governor, the Legislature, parents, other education advocacy groups, local school districts and WEA, the steps we have already taken in preparation for Race to the Top money set a framework for investing in a stronger public schools system. The application process itself proves that we can and will continue to work together to continuously improve public education across Washington.

WEA members and staff began working with the governor and her staff a year ago to develop a package of education reform proposals and initiatives to try to secure Race to the Top Funding from the federal government. The work included many months of solid research including listening to the collective wisdom of our members who spend countless hours in classrooms across our state each year.

Even though we recognize the importance of these federal dollars in the current economy, we — as educators — do not approve of the underlying competitive nature of the Race to the Top. While state governments are forced to cut deeply into education spending, pitting one state, one district or one school against another is the wrong approach. The role of the federal government should be to promote equitable access to a quality education for all students.

Given the circumstances we find ourselves in, I am proud of the voice educators and WEA had on our state’s proposal. The emphasis on local decision-making is critical. I appreciate the local leaders who decided with their districts that our state’s proposal fit their students’ needs. I also appreciate the decision of other local leaders who, after careful consideration, believed their circumstances did not warrant joining the application.

While we are no longer in the running for the federal grant, our work has put us ahead in terms of investing in a stronger public schools system to equip our students for challenges they face today and in the future.”

And this from the League of Education Voters who spent much of the past session trying to strengthen SB 6696:

“While we’ve made progress, today’s announcement underscores the fact that Washington still has a lot of work to do to be competitive in the U.S.—let alone the rest of the world,” said Chris Korsmo, executive director of the League of Education Voters.

“Our kids need and deserve a world class education to be competitive in today’s global marketplace,” Korsmo said. “Right now, we’re coming up short. We need a robust plan to ensure our kids receive the rigor and support they need to get into and through college, and to help catch up the students who are behind.”

“Despite the disappointing news, this Race to the Top competition has leveraged more change than we would have thought possible,” said Lisa Macfarlane, co-founder of the League of Education Voters. “We passed important education reforms this year, but that’s just the first step. Now, our state’s leaders must work together with the districts and unions to achieve real changes that will transform our schools and help all of our students succeed.”

Here is the Education Week post on the defeat for Washington.