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Game Changers Newsletter title
Race to the Top Special Edition                
  April 6 2010
Vol 1, Issue 1
Education Secretary Arne Duncan congratulates PIE Network members March 25th in Washington, D.C. on their efforts to make their states competitive in 'Race to the Top'.
Arne Duncan
Greetings!
Education Secretary Arne Duncan stunned the nation by announcing two-and only two-winners in the first round of Race to the Top. Our congratulations to Delaware and Tennessee, both states with PIE Network members.  
 
There are many takes on what this all means, but no issue has been debated more than the importance of "collaboration" in the application process. Some argue this will lead to scaled back plans, others that it creates new pressures on groups now resisting reform. Before anyone trades innovation for collaboration points, they should consider three things.

First, while two states won in part due to stakeholder buy-in, six states had similarly high scores for stakeholder and local educational agency investment, but did NOT win because their plans weren't substantive enough. Bottom line:  the rewards went to the states with the broadest reach for bold plans.  
 
Second, round two is a new race and there are many states in the country itching for come from behind wins.  Imagine these game changers: What if Connecticut passes the legislation ConnCAN is pushing, if California's "stakeholders" come to grip with the state's dire finances and sign on to a serious application, or if Washington or Maine finally takes charter schools seriously?  If any of those things happen, they might knock other round one finalists out of their rank.

Finally, it's worth noting that while Delaware and Tennessee gained the support of teachers and other stakeholders, state leaders passed strong laws that gave these groups few alternatives:  they made reform inevitable.  That is a lead worth following.
 
While the ending to this story called Race to the Top has yet to be written, one thing I know for sure: leading state advocates will continue to make it a page-turner.
 
Suzanne Tacheny Kubach
Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network
Why did Tennessee and Delaware Win?
Tennessee SCORE chair Bill Frist: "For a state that's typically on the bottom rung of the national education rankings, it's remarkable that we now are at the leading edge of the national reform movement." 
Rodel Foundation of Delaware CEO Paul Herdman: "Some states were starting this summer. We had a four-year head start."
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In This Issue
Why did Tennessee and Delaware win?
Impact of PIE Network members
What the pundits said
States prepare for Round Two
Resources

Impact of PIE Network members
Secretary Duncan calls PIE Network efforts "amazing"
"We wouldn't be seeing the kind of changes we're seeing today without you."
A 'Race' With Many Winners
Suzanne Tacheny Kubach in Education Week
"The great news is that across the country, civic groups are making a huge difference to improve education policy in their states."  
"The competition spurred dramatic shifts in political will, leading to changes in laws in California, Illinois, Washington, and Tennessee that until recently seemed to be impenetrable legal barriers to education reform."

What the pundits said
Bill Frist writes in USA Today that In a matter of months, RttT "engineered the kind of wholesale reform that ordinarily would take a generation to pull off." 
 
Andy Smarick argues these kind of expectations are "premature and drastically inflated." In The Full Story on RttT, he says every first round application that wasn't perfect should have been rejected to show that "anything short of exceptional is not good enough." 
 
While Rick Hess has harped on "an unfortunate emphasis on stakeholder buy-in," his Ed Week blog applauds Delaware and Tennessee for "substantial plans" and "noteworthy reform agents (shout-out to Delaware's Paul Herdman, in particular)."

In the New American, Raven Clabough calls the race "disappointing" and questions why the federal government is involved with education funding in the first place.
PIE Network state-by-state efforts for Round Two
This section looks at how PIE Network members and their states are approaching the June 1 deadline for Round Two applications. As the NY Times points out, many states are still determining their strategies.

California: Challenging districts and unions to put students first
"Now is the time to promote a vigorous reform agenda and then challenge districts and unions to put the interests of students first by becoming part of part of a coalition that promotes instead of opposes dramatic change." - Education Trust-West

"California's Race to the Top Reforms make adults accountable, make moms and dads responsible and offer hope for real change at our public schools by empowering parents."- Ed Voice


Colorado: Creating a merit-based system to evaluate and reward educators
"For Round Two, we must address what was missing in our Round One application - strong reforms in how we attract, retain, support, evaluate and, when necessary, dismiss educators." - OpEd from BizCARES, the RttT initiative of Colorado Succeeds   
Connecticut: Aggressive and proactive approach to reform needed
"No group has waged a more aggressive reform campaign than ConnCAN, which has used Race to the Top to build support for its own agenda, including its advocacy for charter schools, the experimental public schools that are free of most administrative and union rules." - CT Mirror
 
Florida: Fighting to reward teachers for student success
"While today's decision is disappointing, passage of Senate Bill 6 will put Florida in a better position to deliver on its proposal to reward teachers for student progress and success." - The Foundation for Florida's Future
Illinois: Lawmakers need to double down
"Our 5th place finish means we have a strong shot at winning Phase 2, but we have work to do... While Illinois should be pleased that more than 74% of students were represented by districts that signed on to Phase 1, we can do better." - Advance Illinois

Kentucky: Moving quickly on charter school legislation
"We do, indeed, have a state-wide agenda for moving our children higher, and not winning the first round of RTTT won't stop us from doing the work. That very fact, that shared agenda and that determination to push it forward, will be our biggest asset in applying for RTTT's second round." - Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Maine: Status quo prevails--rejecting innovation and accountability
"There is simply no way that any RTT application from Maine which has the broad support of the education special interests will do anything meaningful in terms of reform." - Maine Heritage Policy Center

Massachusetts: A call for greater urgency and more innovation  
The state's second round application " must reach the level of transformative change necessary to meet our state's most critical challenge of preparing all students for success in college, career and citizenship." - Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education
 
Mississippi: Charter school legislation key to reforms
"Charter schools are one of the four options recommended by the U.S. Department of Education for turning around low-performing schools and are an important component of the Race to the Top grants. Yet while the Mississippi Senate showed leadership in passing charter school legislation, the state House must improve the bill to ensure that it produces the best schools possible." -  Mississippi First

Ohio: A call to show bipartisan commitment to school reform
"Despite the disappointment many may feel, now is not the time for turning back. Ohio's current "B-" application can be elevated to an A." - Thomas B. Fordham Institute  (KidsOhio is also a PIE Network member in Ohio.)

Oklahoma: "Challenging process;" will try again in round two
"We were looking at ourselves through a more objective lens. We weren't looking at it to be critical or negative. Instead, we were looking at: What do we need to do to put a reform package together?" - The Oklahoma Business and Education Coalition was part of a task force that wrote the state's application for Race to the Top.
Oregon: Second round application unlikely
"It looks unlikely that we will have a second round application under a lame-duck governor and a lack of willingness of the statewide teachers union to participate. However, our legislative leadership has scheduled a hearing in May to consider what Oregon would need to do to be more competitive and our CLASS Project to improve student achievement will be featured." - Chalkboard Project   (Employers for Education is also a PIE Network member)

Texas: So far, staying on the sidelines in Race to the Top
The Texas Institute for Education Reform represents the PIE Network in Texas.

Washington State: Uphill battle for one of 10 states not applying in round one 
"As Washington prepares its Race to the Top application for Round II, it is critical that the proposal represent a bold plan and coherent strategy for closing the state's growing achievement gap and ensuring that every student is prepared to succeed in college and careers." - Partnership for Learning

"Even with the passage of SB 6696, Washington still has a lot of work to do to create a meaningful evaluation system for teachers and principals." - League of Education Voters
In Brief:
  • The PIE Network welcomes Mississippi First as its 20th member, along with Executive Director Rachel Hicks.
  • Arun Ramanathan is the new executive director of The Education Trust in California.
  • Bill Lucia, former EdVoice Policy Director and COO, succeeds Rae Belisle, now retired, as Executive Director.
This is the first newsletter from the Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network, which highlights the tremendous work our 20 member groups are doing to advance education reform in 16 states.  We plan editions twice a month, so please send us your feedback.