The last month has been a whirlwind of activity for Washington’s pursuit of federal Race to the Top funds. In mid-November, the U.S. Department of Education released the final guidelines for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top competitive grant program. And, later in the month, Governor Chris Gregoire announced that Washington would forego the first round of Race to the Top applications in order to concentrate on putting our state’s best foot forward in round two, in June 2010.
“The federal government has made an unprecedented offer to fund state activities. Accessing this grant money would provide us with a unique opportunity make our system stronger and our children more competitive when they finish their K-12 education. We need to take the time to involve our school districts and make sure we get our application right,” said the governor, who is now working with state education agencies to craft a legislative package to address the areas where Washington does not meet federal grant criteria.
Waiting to apply in round two is a wise strategy, supported by the State Board of Education and Superintendent Randy Dorn—the two other parties who must sign Washington’s application—but the legislature must use this extra time to take meaningful action. Washington is starting the “race” well-behind front-runner states, such as Colorado and Massachusetts, that have embraced innovation and reforms such as charters schools and more robust alternative routes to teaching.
To become a serious contender, Washington’s education policymakers and the legislature will need to take bold steps. Specifically, the state needs to secure the authority to intervene in persistently low-performing schools, overhaul teacher and principal evaluation to measure impact on student learning, and work with other states to develop and adopt rigorous, internationally-benchmarked standards and assessments.
Washington has one shot at an historic amount of additional federal education money, and we need to make it count. But even if we do not receive Race to the Top funds, these changes are essential to providing our students with the education they deserve and to keeping our state economically competitive in the future.
Curious about what people are saying in Washington about Race to the Top? Please read the articles below:
- Pigs fly, hell freezes over – and state decides to fix its worst schools, Tacoma News Tribune, Dec. 13
- On to Round Two, Seattle Times, Nov. 23
- Race to the top in education? Who, us? Tacoma News Tribune, Nov. 16
- Win or lose, Race to the Top worth it for state's students, Seattle Times, Nov. 15
To learn more about Washington’s Race to the Top application, please visit the Governor’s Race to the Top website.
Opposition grows to proposed math and science requirement delays
Last month, Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn proposed delays to Washington's math and science graduation requirements. Current state law requires students to pass end-of-course exams in math and science starting in 2013. Dorn's proposal aims to "establish a 'two-tier' bar for the math graduation requirement, beginning with the class of 2015, in which one tier – Proficient – is the goal, but another tier – Basic – is enough to earn a diploma."
In simple terms, Supt. Dorn is lowering the bar in math. In science, he wants to delay the entire requirement until 2017.
The proposed delays not only compromise our state’s commitment to ensuring every student graduates ready to succeed in college and work, they would weaken our state’s competitiveness for the $4.35 billion federal Race to the Top grants.
Governor Chris Gregoire has announced that she soundly opposes Supt. Dorn’s proposal, citing that the state's economy depends on Washington students leaving high school well trained in math and science.
Partnership for Learning has voiced strong opposition to any delay to Supt. Dorn, the governor’s office, State Board of Education leaders and legislators. And editorial writers from the Seattle Post Globe, Seattle Times, Tacoma News Tribune, The Everett Herald, and Vancouver Columbian all agreed that our state should not back down from high standards.
“Settling for less from Washington’s students means settling for a lesser future for the state. Our collective well-being depends on high school graduates whose diplomas mean something, on students who are ready to compete in the world. Math and science are increasingly important factors in that equation,” wrote the Tacoma News Tribune.
Despite this strong opposition, Supt. Dorn plans to ask the legislature to delay math and science requirements in January.
To learn more about Supt. Dorn’s proposed math and science graduation requirement delays, visit OSPI’s website.