Lots of behind the scenes action talking place. . . Representative Mindy Greiling and Senator LeRoy Stumpf, chairs of the key education committees, met with Governor Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday. The Governor wants to resubmit the Race to the Top (RTTT) application, but only if the legislature acts on key provisions that are likely to improve Minnesota's score in the second round of this federal competitive grant program. Both President Obama and Governor Pawlenty agree on several goals that they believe will produce and retain high quality teachers, increase student achievement and help close the achievement gap. However, Education Minnesota, the state's teacher union, and some at the legislature are more resistant to these changes, or at least question the Governor's policy interpretations of Obama's goals. The teacher unions need to be a player in the next round because Minnesota was dinged in points due to the very small percentage of teacher unions that signed support for the first application. The weak areas pointed out in Minnesota's original RTTT application and the issues the Governor wants the legislature to address include:
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Attract the highest quality candidates to the teaching profession and dramatically improve the teacher preparation programs.
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Provide alternative paths to teacher licensure.
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Develop a plan to attract the highest quality teachers and principals to work in the lowest achieving schools.
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Define a clear pathway to remove ineffective teachers.
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Tie a portion of a teacher's evaluation, perhaps even compensation, to students' growth in achievement while in their classroom.
These seem like straight-forward, common-sense provisions that could be embraced by all concerned but the devil is always in the details. It will be interesting to see if the stakeholders can come together and find common ground. For example, the governor essentially wants to abolish tenure and the teachers' union opposes ANY change to tenure - can't they find middle ground to more efficiently remove ineffective teachers from the classroom and get past the political maneuvering?
Caution: Minnesota is applying for ~$175 million in the second RTTT application. It is my understanding that half the money goes directly to the school districts and half goes to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to help implement the plan. The money is paid over three years and then the funding stops! This is not a huge amount of money in the big scheme of things. Plus, how will these policies be funded once the money runs out? If it costs one cent more than the total dollars our state receives to implement and maintain, it is a net loss to our schools that are already struggling with diminishing resources during these tough economic times.
The goal can't be just "winning" a RTTT grant. State leaders must focus on establishing sound education policy that will increase the quality of the education system in Minnesota, improve student outcomes and NOT create another unfunded mandate the will strip dollars from other valuable educational programs and services.
Next week on Tuesday, April 20, the House and Senate are holding a
joint education committee meeting, presumably to lay out a package of ideas to address the RTTT application. Then on Thursday, April 22, the United States Department of Education is hosting a
Technical Assistance Planning Workshop in Minneapolis for states that want to reapply to RTTT, 48 states are participating, including Minnesota. We will continue to watch how this develops.
