Rules for Huge "Race to the Top" Education Grants Released

by Mike Smith · 2009-11-12 17:21:00 UTC
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Following consternation and criticism about plans to reform education through a contest to win "Race To The Top" funds, the Obama administration has added flexibility to the final rules for the contest, drawing praise from those initially critical. That's the New York Times' take at least.

But Rahm Emmanuel suggests little has changed: “Even after all the comments, the rules are as comprehensive and demanding as before, they haven’t changed.” Jim Horn at Schools Matter has found himself agreeing with Obama's Chief of Staff that little has changed, but he says "we find that none of the corporate reformer priorities has changed."

Education Week explain that in order for states to receive a slice of $4.35 billion, they will have to develop plans to evaluate teachers based on student performance, though plans have been altered so that this is only one of the ways that teachers are evaluated. The President of the National Education Association quietened his criticism of Race to the Top, explaining that this change presents a “solid reaffirmation of our belief that a student, like a teacher, is more than a test score." Arne Duncan has followed Rahm Emmanuel's harsh tone by explaining that "There will be a lot more losers than winners." He's talking about the states, but I fear that for states that dislike these reforms or for states that miss out, the real losers will be the students.

Photo credit: Sizumaru

Mike Smith is associate editor at Change.org.
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