Updates on the Race: 01-14-2010

COLORADO
RttT bill is fast-tracked (Denver Post)

CONNECTICUT
75 school districts on board (New Haven Register)

ILLINOIS
Legislation revamps teacher evaluations; governor's signature expected (The State Journal-Register)

INDIANA
93% of school districts join Race (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)

IOWA
Senate approves RttT bill (Des Moines Register)

KENTUCKY
Governor signs low-performing schools bill (Louisville Courier-Journal)

MASSACHUSETTS
School bill ready for final vote (Boston Globe)

MICHIGAN
State teacher's union won't sign onto application (The Detroit News)

MINNESOTA
Over 250 districts, charter schools on board (Star News)

NEBRASKA
Governor: State's $122 million application includes 'Virtual High School' (Omaha World-Herald)

OREGON
112 school districts on board (Statesman Journal)

PENNSYLVANIA
Requiring local school board and union sign-off (Education Week Teacher Beat)

Editorial: Flexibility should accompany call for innovation (Harrisburg Patriot-News)

RHODE ISLAND
State, teachers union still at 'loggerheads' (Providence Journal)

TENNESSEE
Teacher evaluation bill clears latest hurdle (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

TEXAS
Governor Perry plays 'local control', 'Texas first' cards; rejects Race to the Top (Dallas News)

WEST VIRGINIA
Governor will call for special session if state fails in first round (Business Week)

WISCONSIN
Mayor/gubernatorial candidate offers compromise on mayoral control (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

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Updates on the Race: 12-21-2009

NATIONAL
Creative RttT Lawmaking (Politics K-12)

RttT Hopefuls: Clear The Week of March 15, 2010 (Politics K-12)

States Struggle With Pk-20 Data (Education Week)

CALIFORNIA
State senate passes RttT reform bill (AP)

Bill addresses failing schools (San Francisco Chronicle)

Final bill could be passed "before the holidays" (Los Angeles Times)

Assembly Speaker: Race is 'on track' (San Jose Mercury News)

FLORIDA
Teachers union says 'no' to state plan (Teacher Beat)

Unions balking on Race (Orlando Sentinel)

Florida Dems cry foul (St. Petersburg Times - The Gradebook blog)

63 of 67 school districts sign on (Miami Herald)

HAWAII
Failure to address teacher furlough could jeopardize RttT chances (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)

IDAHO
State supe stumps for RttT (Times-News)

Luna: Charter school cap to stay (Times-News)

ILLINOIS
RttT funds could target lowest performing schools (Chicago Daily Herald)

INDIANA
DoE rolls out RttT proposal summary (Journal & Courier)

LOUISIANA
Governor pushes performance pay (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

MARYLAND
Apply in Round 1? Governor: Yes! State Supe: No! (Baltimore Sun)

MASSACHUSETTS
Editorial: More reform needed (Boston Globe)

MICHIGAN
Education reform bill passes (Detroit News)

Reforms pass, including control of failing schools in Detroit (Detroit Free Press)

Editorial: Better than expected (Detroit News)

NEVADA
Governor will wait for second round (Nevada Appeal)

Bill draft would remove state data firewall (Las Vegas Sun)

NEW JERSEY
Expanded school choice could fuel state RttT effort (Philadelphia Inquirer)

NEW YORK
Move your ass, New York (New York Daily News)

OREGON
Two districts sign on (The Oregonian)

RHODE ISLAND
Gist pitches aggressive ed reforms (Providence Journal)

TENNESSEE
Governor's special session: a 'high-pressure gambit' (Nashville City Paper)

Special session will address teacher evaluation (The Tennessean)

WISCONSIN
School district sign-ups underway (Baraboo News Republic)

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Past Updates on the Race to the Top

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Stimulus Watch: Front-Loading and Favoritism

Michael Griffith, senior finance analyst at the Education Commission of the States, has authored a fascinating policy brief detailing where states are beginning to invest the State Fiscal Stabilization Funding portion of the federal stimulus money. As of May 8th, the U.S. Department of Education has approved preliminary applications from governors of nine states (CA, IL, ME, MN, MS, OR, SD, UT, WI).

The ECS brief notes that the applications provide assurance that the state will: (1) fund both its K-12 schools and institutions of higher education at or above FY 2005-06 levels, and (2) identify how much of the stabilization funds it will expend in FY 2008-09, FY 2009-10 and FY 2010-11.

Here are the results:

• FRONT-LOADING OF FUNDS - "States are allowed to use their Education Stabilization Funding starting this fiscal year (FY 2008-09) through fall 2011. The expectation was that states would spend some of their funds to finish out this fiscal year but would use the bulk of funds in FY 2009-10 and FY 2010-11. However, these first nine states have greatly front-loaded their spending. On average, the nine states are spending 55.0% of their Educational Stabilization Funds to complete FY 2008-09." The states of California, Illinois, Oregon and Utah will have spent down all of their stabilization funds and will have none remaining by FY 2010-11; on the other end of the spectrum, the state of Mississippi will reserve 52% of its funding for FY 2010-11.

• K-12 FAVORED OVER HIGHER ED - "Over the past three years states have spent an averaged 76.9% of education funding on K-12 programs and 23.1% on higher education. While the average expenditures from the nine states with approved applications hews close to traditional expenditures (80.1% on K-12 and 19.9% to Higher Ed), each of the nine states planned expenditures varies greatly." Wisconsin would spend all of its stabilization funding on K-12, while neighboring Minnesota will spend 38% of its funding on higher education.

The decision most states have made to front-load these funds is no doubt driven by fiscal crises, partially due to the recession but also by poor budgetary choices made by states over time. That K-12 garners most of these dollars reflects existing spending priorities wherein higher education takes a backseat -- perhaps because tuition is seen as an available revenue stream to make up for state stinginess.

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Stand For Children

Child advocacy groups are pretty predictable creatures. They're all about childhood immunization, child health care, and early childhood education, right? Well, usually.

Not these folks.

Stand for Children is a national 501(c)(3) based in Portland, Oregon. It is a self-proclaimed "citizen voice for children" that torpedoes the traditional concept of what a child advocacy group is and can do. Stand "builds effective local and statewide networks of grassroots advocates" and focuses on "securing adequate funding for public schools and reforming education policies and practices to help children thrive academically, giving them the opportunities they need to become successful, productive citizens."

Stand has taken on an aggressive reform agenda focused on k-12 education and teacher quality, specifically. Stand was instrumental -- along with the Chalkboard Project -- in passing a visionary teacher mentoring law (HB2574) in the state of Oregon in 2007. (For more, read an article by Stand's Dana Hepper on page 7 of the New Teacher Center's Reflections newsletter.) They've achieved many other successes, too.

Stand has state affiliates in Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington state -- and soon in Colorado as well. It is led by Jonah Edelman, co-founder and executive director.

Check them out.

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Oregon Ballot Measure Update

Oregon Ballot Measure No. 60, which would have required that state teachers be paid based on performance and not on experience or seniority, failed on a vote of 40% to 60%.

See previous post ("Teacher Pay on Oregon Ballot").

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Teacher Pay on Oregon Ballot

Most policy issues are too complicated to warrant direct democracy. That's why -- like 'em or hate 'em -- we elect presidents, governors, legislators, school board members, and the like to do that detailed work. The general public, by and large, doesn't have the time (or interest?) to wade into these issues at a level of depth that they require. Such is the case with teacher pay, especially when the issue is how it can fairly and accurately be tied to student outcomes. That's complicated stuff.

Oregon begs to differ. Oregon allows such complex issues to be voted on by direct public referendum. In fact, it leads the nation in such "voter" initiatives. Now, Oregon is one of my favorite places, but on this issue, I just think it is dead wrong.

The Associated Press reports that Oregon's 2008 ballot will feature 12 measures in all, one of which would require that teachers be paid based on "classroom performance" rather than on experience or seniority. It is sponsored by an unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate and founder of Oregon Taxpayers United.

Oregon voters rejected a similar ballot measure eight years ago.

Hey, I'm all for thinking big and bold about how to change teacher compensation (see here, here, and here), but this ain't the way to do it.

And lest you think that ballot initiatives take the money out of politics, check out who is funding them in Oregon in 2008. For more information about Oregon's history of ballot measures, check out this handy guide from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center.

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Musical Elective Of The Week

After a month-long hiatus following the relocation of the Optimists, Optimist Junior, and Optimist Dog from Madison to Stoughton, Wisconsin, this feature is finally back on track....

The Musical Elective Of The Week Month is The Decemberists.

The city of Portland, Oregon is good for so many reasons. It's one of our favorite places. It has great food, great wine, great coffee, great bread, and great bookstores. Well, maybe not good weather (perhaps that explains the umbrellas?). But it also provides The Decemberists. So that makes up for the occasional rainy day.

The Decemberists are songwriter and frontman Colin Meloy, multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, bassist Nate Query and drummer John Moen. They burst onto the indie music scene with 2003's Her Majesty, The Decemberists and followed that up with 2005's Picaresque which includes the track "We Both Go Down Together". But it probably was The Crane Wife that earned them the immense attention they now receive.

The Crane Wife, released in 2006, is a masterpiece of an album. It's not a collection of songs. It's an album. Inspired by a Japanese folk tale of the same name, the album features "The Crane Wife 3" and the singles "O Valencia!" and "The Perfect Crime #2". It was voted the number one album of 2006 by National Public Radio listeners.

The Decemberists are anchored in Meloy's brilliant songwriting and are fueled by his unique voice and the band's lush instrumentation. As a band, they are hard to categorize musically. They are certainly cerebral, but also can deliver some compelling pop hooks. Without hearing them, perhaps a combination of folk, art rock, and rock is the most apt description.

Expect a new album from the Decemberists sometime in 2009.

The Decemberists will play select dates on the East and West Coasts during the month of November 2008. So, if you're lucky enough to live in those cities, go check them out.

To learn more, check out their web site.

My girl, linen and curls
Lips parting like a flag all unfurled
She's grand, the bend of her hand
Digging deep into the sweep of the sand
--"Summersong," The Crane Wife (2006)

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Extra Credit--Past Musical Electives of the Week:

Ron Sexsmith
Kasey Chambers
Lucinda Williams
Great Big Sea
Griffin House
Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer
Neil Finn
Ray LaMontagne
Stuart Stotts
Dan Wilson
Kathleen Edwards

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