The Houston Chronicle June 1, 2010

HEADLINE: Perry says state will not apply for education grants

By Ericka Mellon

Gov. Rick Perry, reiterating his concerns about the U.S. government taking over public education, confirmed Tuesday that Texas again will not compete for a federal grant worth up to $700 million for local schools.

Perry refused in January to let the state apply for the first round of the Race to the Top grant but had not definitively said Texas would sit on the sidelines for phase two. The Republican governor repeatedly has slammed President Barack Obama's signature education initiative for favoring states that adopt common curriculum standards.

"This administration's attempt to bait states into adopting national standards is an effort to undermine states' authority to determine how their students are educated and is clearly aimed at circumventing laws prohibiting national standards," Perry said of the Democratic leadership in Washington, D.C.

Perry's comments drew criticism from the U.S. Department of Education.

"Gov. Perry is misinformed about Race to the Top. This is a voluntary program that all but a handful of states have applied for because they know they need to get better," department spokesman Peter Cunningham said. "If Gov. Perry chooses to forego this opportunity to advance education reform, that's his choice, but it's a missed opportunity for Texas school districts and schoolchildren."

Forming standards
Texas and Alaska were the only two states not to join an initiative last year to develop common standards that spell out what children should learn in reading and math regardless of where they live. That effort is led by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association.

Texas' own curriculum standards - particularly in the subjects of science and social studies - have come under widespread national criticism. The state's reading and math standards have received mixed reviews from education groups, while Texas led the nation in developing another set of standards to define college and career readiness.

To adopt new standards, the state estimates it would cost $3 billion for textbooks, rewriting student exams and teacher certification tests, and professional development for staff.

White critical
Teachers groups have stood behind Perry's decision while several Houston-area superintendents have blasted the move to turn down a shot at more funding for schools.

Anticipating a multi-billion-dollar shortfall in the upcoming budget cycle, Perry, along with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus, asked state agencies last week to cut 10 percent from spending requests.

The campaign of former Houston Mayor Bill White, Perry's Democratic opponent for governor, criticized the governor's decision.

"While 'Press Conference Perry' engages in political posturing, the reality is that Texas educators had the ability to design an application to fit our state's needs," said White campaign spokesperson Katy Bacon, adding the governor already has accepted federal stimulus funding.

After Obama announced the $4 billion education grant program, several states rushed to change laws to meet his reform agenda, which includes expanding charter schools and tying teachers' evaluations to student test scores.

Delaware and Tennessee won the first-round funding. Forty-one states applied initially, and 35 applied for round two on Tuesday.

Key points agreed on by NJEA are changed in new 'Race to the Top' application
The Star - Ledger (Trenton, NJ)
By Jeanette Rundquist
June 1, 2010

The Christie Administration today submitted its new application for up to $400 million in federal funding for education reform, under the Race to the Top program, promising a "bold reform agenda" - but changing some key points agreed to last week by the New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union.

The NJEA, which had refused to endorse the state's first Race to the Top application in January, signed onto the new one last week after marathon negotiations, and with compromises on merit pay, teacher seniority, evaluations and tenure.

In a press release issued by the governor's office today, that described the application as one "focused on the belief that student performance begins and ends in the classroom," some of those items are changed.

Senate Democratic leaders today said the governor made an "about-face" on the application that could jeopardize New Jersey's chances.

Last week, the NJEA and state Department of Education agreed to continue using seniority in making decisions about teacher layoffs. In a press release describing the new application today, however, the Christie Administration said "educational effectiveness will replace seniority as the main factor in determining who to retain."

The teachers' union had also objected to a proposal for individual merit pay, which entailed a "bonus pool" of money the state would split between teachers or teacher teams, and their schools.

The NJEA and DOE agreed to a plan in which half of the money awarded by the state as teacher bonuses would be used for school wide programs, and a school's staff would decide how to award the rest.

The release issued today says New Jersey "will design, evaluate and implement merit pay programs that pay individual teachers based on student achievement."

The NJEA last week signed onto the proposal after it was agreed that student achievement would account for 50 percent of a teachers' evaluation - not 51 percent, as Education Commissioner Bret Schundler originally proposed.

The latest release says only that "teacher evaluations based on student achievement" will be used as the basis for decisions to grant tenure, promote and develop teachers.

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said she was disappointed and outraged by the state's move.
"Gov. Christie's decision to pull the plug on last Thursday's agreed-upon 'Race To The Top' application will greatly jeopardize New Jersey's chances of getting $400 million in federal education funding over the next four years," Keshishian said. "This is a classic case of 'bait and switch.'

Keshishian also said that they heard about the changes in the application after union officials spoke to Schundler.

"In April, the governor wrote on his blog that he was hoping to submit a Race To The Top application with 'sufficient support from New Jersey's education stakeholders -including the NJEA,'" Keshishian said. "Now, we learn that despite all that hard work - and the long-overdue collaboration that New Jerseyans want between Gov. Christie and NJEA - the governor has once again chosen the path of conflict."