Washington Misses the Cut for Race to the Top Funding

The White House today named 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists for Race to the Top funding. Washington was not among those selected. Peter Callaghan has comprehensive coverage of reactions from state officials, education leaders, and the teachers' union at The News Tribune's Political Buzz blog. He comments:

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's the official U.S. Department of Education release. Note this:

"Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia submitted bold blueprints for reform that bear the signatures of many key players at the state and local level who drive change in our schools," [Education Secretary Arne] Duncan said.

"Peer reviewers identified these 19 finalists as having the boldest plans, but every state that applied will benefit from this process of collaboratively creating a comprehensive education reform agenda," Duncan added. "Much of the federal dollars we distribute though other channels can support their plan to raise standards, improve teaching, use data more effectively to support student learning, and turn around underperforming schools."

Missing the cut is disappointing. The money would surely have been welcome and put to good use. More important, however, is that the state redouble its commitment to real education reform, meaningful standards, and strong accountability.

Comments

[Jeanne MacKenzie]

If one of the requirements for being included in the race to the top funding was that our state supported charter schools then why did Gregoire waste more tax payer money having someone filling out and submitting the application? Yet another example of how the Teacher's Unions try to dictate our education policies.