The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has released the final rules for the American Reauthorization and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Race to the Top (RTTT) Fund. The final rules include not only the formal application that states will need to complete in order to be considered for either Phase I or Phase II of federal funding but also a revised RTTT Executive Summary and an Executive Summary of the Major Changes the DOE made to the application based upon comments from the education field.
After months of anticipation, in a little mid-summer “Happy Friday” to states, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released draft requirements for the federal education stimulus’ competitive Race to the Top grant today. There’s a whole slew of media coverage on the release out there (here, here, here and here), but you can read a special message from Ed Sec Arne Duncan in the Washington Post and, for the stout of heart, you can read the full requirements at USDE’s website.
Looks like states will have to address all four stimulus assurances (common standards, human capital, data systems, school improvement) with in their Race to the Top applications. Let the games begin…
FROM EDWEEK: Speaking before 6,500 officials and local delegates of the National Education Association (NEA), who are meeting here for the union’s annual Representative Assembly, Mr. Duncan underscored compensation, evaluation, and tenure reform as crucial to improving the quality of the education workforce.
“I believe that teacher unions are at a crossroads. These policies were created over the past century to protect the rights of teachers, but they have produced an industrial, factory model of education that treats all teachers like interchangeable widgets,” Mr. Duncan said. “When inflexible seniority and rigid tenure rules that we designed put adults ahead of children, then we are not only putting kids at risk, we’re putting the entire education system at risk. We’re inviting the attack of parents and the public, and that is not good for any of us.”
Apparently, there was applause, mixed with boos and hisses.
In case you missed it last week, EdSec Arne Duncan’s message to states regarding the use of stimulus funding is becoming ever-clearer: If states use stimulus dollars to plug budget holes instead of boosting aid for schools, the federal government may withhold millions of dollars of additional stimulus funding.
A list of seven ideas for improving student achievement that require no funding is welcome news amid the doom and gloom of state budget impacts on K-12 education.
Washington Post education columnist Jay Matthews suggests devoting more attention to reading, increasing parent-teacher and student-teacher communications (more positive encouragement all around) and unleashing charter schools. Of course the latter would apply only to the 40 states that allow charter schools, not Washington and the other nine states that maintain their quaint opposition to innovative school models.
Yesterday, Laura posted on the significant sum of money that will come education’s way through the latest stimulus package. But if you’re thinking this money comes as a free lunch or merely a life raft to keep state education budgets afloat, think again. Two statements released today—an editorial by Bill and Melinda Gates and a speech by Ed Sec. Arne Duncan—confirm that a large part of the education stimulus will be used to reward and incentivize education reform.
While everyone is scratching their heads about how to resolve the current economic meltdown, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times reminds us of one simple equation:
stimulating our economy = stimulating our schools
During President-elect Barack Obama’s press conference introducing Arne Duncan as his pick for U.S. Secretary of Education, Obama suggested that “If we want to out-compete the world tomorrow, then we have to out-educate the world today.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Exciting new research praised by The Wall Street Journal editorial board suggests that states with robust alternative teaching routes—pathways that allow a seasoned industry professional, like an engineer or banker, to make an easy entry into the classroom—are making faster student achievement gains. Sounds a lot like a topic of much debate from earlier this year.
Just when I was starting to think all national legislators were doing these days was fretting over auto executive salaries, Washington Senator Patty Murray restored my faith in humanity. Penning a poigant editorial in this morning’s Tri-City Herald, Sen. Murray deftly positions education and workforce training as key to our nation’s economic recovery.