Arkansas’ Race to the Top Application
Posted by BKisida | Arkansas, Education, Politics | January 20, 2010
Arkansas’ application for Race to the Top funds can now be found here on the ADE website. I’m sure composing it was a long and tedious process for those involved, and I’m impressed that there are people out there who can navigate through such intense bureaucratic jargon.
We haven’t fully digested it yet. At first glance, it reads more like a brag sheet of what Arkansas has done for the past decade. That’s to be expected. Unfortunately, the document seems to be pretty thin when it comes to demonstrating any new specific innovations or any new legislation that has been forged that will lead to future reforms.
One item that is worth mentioning shows up in the section that defends Arkansas’ charter school cap (charter caps are discouraged by RTTT goals). Arkansas’ application states that:
As of the date of this submission, no applicant for an Open-enrollment charter has had its application denied due to the existing “cap” of 24. While no applicant State or State agency can guarantee the future adoption of any type of legislation, we anticipate that, as has occurred in the past, when the number of high-performing Open-enrollment charters approaches the current “cap” the question of increasing or eliminating the cap to accommodate additional high-performing Charter will be given serious consideration.
This might be news to State Board members. As we’ve mentioned before, State Board member Brenda Gullett told the press that the charter cap was was the basis for how selective she is when considering applicants.
I also thought it was entertaining when, in response to a question on the RTTT application that asked specifically for:
“The number of charter schools allowed under State law and the percentage this represents of the total number of schools in the State”
Arkansas’ application answers:
“24 open-enrollment charters (8 percent of the total number of LEAs – 244).”
Of course, the number of total public schools is more than 4 times the number of LEAs. The actual correct answer is around 2.2%.
And, since we’re getting technical, 24 is 10 percent of 244, not 8.
The Dem-Gaz had a good summary today of what other states are doing:
“So far, 11 states have moved to change laws or policies that might undermine their chances of winning, administration officials said.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, signed a law Tuesday aiming to expand the number of high-quality charter schools within the state. Tennessee and Illinois also have loosened charterschool restrictions.
Charter schools, which are backed by Obama and Duncan, operate under contracts with school districts and are exempt from certain state and local regulations that govern traditional public schools.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, signed legislation this month that would let schools use student-achievement data in evaluations of teachers and principals. A Wisconsin law enacted in November also would link student gains to teacher evaluations.
Race to the Top grant rules bar states from applying for grants if they don’t let schools link performance data to teacher evaluations. Duncan and Obama have long pressed for merit-pay programs that reward teachers for student gains. “