Updates on the Race: 01-15-2010

Round-one applications are due on January 19, 2010...

CALIFORNIA
Bay Area schools are Racing to the Top (Contra Costa Times)

ILLINOIS
70 percent of districts on board (Peoria Journal Star)

IOWA
RttT bills on the Legislature's agenda today (Des Moines Register Iowa Politics blog)

Seven largest school districts oppose Governor's plans (Des Moines Register)

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

MASSACHUSETTS
Sweeping education bill passes legislature (Boston Globe)

NEW YORK
Unions opposing charter cap lift (New York Post)

RHODE ISLAND
No agreement between state, teachers' unions (Providence Journal)

TENNESSEE
Bill advances in House, headed for Senate vote (The Tennessean)

TEXAS
Editorial: Governor Perry is all 'rhetoric' (Houston Chronicle)

Op-ed: Perry's 'smokescreen' (The Dallas Morning News blog)

UTAH
Three fourths of school districts on board (The Salt Lake Tribune)

WASHINGTON
Governor's reform plan detailed (ABC News)

Editorial: Reforms needed to win round 2 (The Spokesman-Review)

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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: 01-13-2010

NATIONAL
AFT chief vows to revise teacher-dismissal process (Education Week)

Strong applications versus stakeholder support? (Flypaper)

RttT fire drills ignore the fact that 52% 0f state application is based on PAST reform and achievement (Eduflack)

ALABAMA
Governor Riley links charters, Race chances (Dothan Eagle)

FLORIDA
53 of 67 school districts on board; only 5 with union backing (Orlando Sentinel School Zone blog)

GEORGIA
Governor Purdue pitches performance pay (Atlanta Journal Constitution blog)

ILLINOIS
Bill to strengthen educator evaluations passes state House (The State Journal-Register)

IOWA
Legislation needed to boost state's competitiveness (Des Moines Register)

Governor Culver presses for RttT legislation in State of the State (Des Moines Register blog)

Bill passes first legislative hurdle (Des Moines Register blog)

KENTUCKY
House passes low-performing schools bill (Louisville Courier-Journal)

LOUISIANA
State board endorses application (The Advocate)

MASSACHUSETTS
Editorial: Hold firm on education reform (Boston Globe)

MICHIGAN
State Board of Education uneasy about application (The Detroit News)

NEW YORK
Legislative action needed (Albany Times Union blog)

Editorial: The governor's desperate dash (Albany Times Union)

Lawmakers will vote on charter cap the day application is due (New York Daily News Daily Politics blog)

OHIO
Less than half of state districts sign on; union support expected (The Columbus Dispatch)

PENNSYLVANIA
Philly teachers support Race (Philadelphia Inquirer)

RHODE ISLAND
Lack of union support could weaken state's chances (Providence Journal)

TENNESSEE
Governor Bredesen unveils legislative plan (The Leaf Chronicle)

Governor Bredesen: "Seize the day" (Education Week via Chattanooga Times Free Press)

Governor, teachers reach compromise on teacher evaluations (The Commercial Appeal)

Union approves teacher evaluation based half on student achievement (Nashville Public Radio)

TEXAS
Out of Race (Austin American-Statesman blog)

WISCONSIN
Milwaukee Children's Zone a state focus (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

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Updates on the Race: 12-16-2009

NATIONAL
Is Race to Top an Urban Game? (Education Week Politics K-12 Blog)

Some state officials have a sneaking suspicion that Race to the Top is an urban state's game and that has made some question whether they should apply, at least in Round 1. For instance, Vermont had originally planned to apply for Round 1 of the competition, but is now going to hold off for Round 2.... The state decided to sit out the first round because of the competition's rules on charter schools. Vermont, a largely rural state, doesn't have them, but it does have some other innovative public schools, Knopf said. But, under the RttT regulations, the state can only get up to eight points for its innovative schools, out of a possible 40, since it doesn't have a charter school law.

In North Dakota, state education superintendent Wayne Sanstead told Michele that it can't move quickly enough to make the Jan. 19 deadline for Round 1. Still, when the state applies in Round 2, it will develop a North Dakota-kind-of-plan, he said, which will probably be a lot different than other states' plans because of the rural nature of his state.

Jockeying for Race's Post Position (Eduflack)

Of the 15 states receiving significant help from the Gates Foundation to prepare their applications, 13 are planning on Phase One apps. Not surprisingly, Texas is not on the early intent list (as the Republic of Texas is likely trying to figure out how to make up points for the big dings it will take over its resistance to common core standards. Surprisingly, North Carolina has NOT indicated its intent to submit in Phase One, despite the Tar Heel State's reputation for being a true leader in education reforms over the past three decades.

While the official RttT scoring makes clear that past accomplishments are worth more points than plans for the future, we see a number of states that have made major changes in recent months (firewalls, charter caps, etc.) just to be compliant with Race requirements. States like California, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Wisconsin will have to demonstrate — in just a few short weeks — that recent legislative action is the culmination of a commitment to school improvement, and not simply fast action to win some quick money.

And who is missing from the list, besides North Carolina? Rhode Island is not there, probably indicating that State Supe Deborah Gist is working to do it right (with regard to detailing her aggressive reform agenda in a few hundred pages of prose). But otherwise, the early app list reads like a list of those most likely to win and those most hopeful to win a major prize.

CALIFORNIA
Politics slows reform (USA Today)

School districts wary of Race (Contra Costa Times)

LOUISIANA
School boards association opposes Race (Shreveport Times)

MICHIGAN
Reform jump started but incomplete (Detroit Free Press)

NEW YORK
Regents propose reforms with an eye toward Race to the Top (New York Times City Room blog)

TENNESSEE
Governor calls special session to address state's firewall law (The Tennessean)

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Past Updates on the Race to the Top

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Updates on the Race: 12-03-2009

Michele McNeil at Education Week has a really important story about a new Center on Education Policy report that questions whether states have the capacity to effectively implement proposed Race to the Top reforms -- and suggests that states may be applying for RttT funding primarily because they are short on cash.

...[M]ore than half the states report that their capacity to carry out stimulus-related education changes is a “major problem."

In other news:

DELAWARE: Plan unveiled

ILLINOIS: Gov. Quinn announces leaders of RttT effort

MICHIGAN: Racing to the top or slowing to a crawl?

NEW JERSEY: Not applying in round one

RHODE ISLAND: New laws strengthen RttT effort

TENNESSEE: Is in contention

TEXAS: 'The feds are coming, the feds are coming'

WISCONSIN: Special session could address Milwaukee mayoral takeover

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Updates on the Race: 12-01-2009

ARIZONA: State could be in contention

CONNECTICUT: State to lift charter cap?

MICHIGAN: Promise of federal funds forges bipartisan agreement [Update]

MISSOURI: In the Race

NEW YORK: Gates and firewalls, Bloomberg, Duncan push Race

NORTH CAROLINA: Gov. Purdue sees bigger picture in RttT; not just about $$$

RHODE ISLAND: State superintendent Gist leads RttT forums

TEXAS: Gov. Perry is a human firewall

WISCONSIN: 'Children's zones' a feature of state's application

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Texas State Board Evolves

Evolution sometimes happens right before our eyes. There's been a coup d'etat of sorts in Texas.

The San Antonio Express-News reports ("Senate ousts creationist as head of state ed board") that the Texas State Senate, in an all-too-rare rebuff of Governor Rick Perry, has removed the State Board of Education chairman who has led the charge against evolution in the Lone Star State.

In a rare rejection of an appointment from the governor, the Senate on Thursday ousted Don McLeroy as chairman of the State Board of Education as his supporters claimed the Bryan dentist was the victim of his strong religious beliefs.

McLeroy is a devout Christian who believes in creationism and the notion that the Earth is about 6,000 years old. He has steadfastly argued that Texas students should be taught the weaknesses of evolution.

Background here and here.

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Evolution Lives

On a tie vote, it appears that the creationists on the Texas State Board of Education failed in their attempt to prevent the teaching of evolution in science classes. However, they managed to make some mischief, requiring science teachers to evaluate critically a variety of scientific principles like the Big Bang, for example.

Here is additional background, as reported here on Wednesday ("Will Darwin Take It On The Chin In Texas?").

The New York Times ("Defeat And Some Success For Texas Evolution Foes") and the Dallas Morning News ("Split vote upholds Texas education board ruling to ax evolution 'strengths and weaknesses' rule") have the full story.

Board members deadlocked 7-7 on a motion to restore a longtime curriculum rule that "strengths and weaknesses" of all scientific theories – notably Charles Darwin's theory of evolution – be covered in science classes and textbooks for those subjects.

The tie vote upheld a preliminary decision by the board in January to delete the strengths-and-weaknesses rule in the new curriculum standards for science classes that will be in force for the next decade. That decision, if finalized in a last vote today, changes 20 years of Texas education policy.

Because the standards spell out what must be covered in textbooks, science educators and publishers have been monitoring the Texas debate closely. As one of the largest textbook purchasers in the nation, Texas influences what is sold in other states.

Now if they could only agree on how old the earth really is.

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