“While performance-related pay has been around since the 1700s and affects the pay scale of over 85 percent of private sector employees, the debate over merit pay for teachers is still highly contentious. On one hand, proponents argue merit pay will help cash-strapped schools retain good teachers and shed bad ones. They also argue that this will create a salary scale that is fairer than the system of seniority pay that currently exists in most school systems. On the other hand, opponents contend that merit pay may work for seamstresses, but teaching is too complicated to base quality on student performance on a standardized test.”

Read more here.

Preceding Announcement of Round 2 finalists

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be announcing the Round 2 Race to the Top finalists during a speech he is giving today at the National Press Club entitled “The Quiet Revolution.” The speech begins at 12:30, and you can watch it online: here. http://press.org/events/npc-luncheon-secretary-arne-duncan

Race to the Top (RttT) has effected more positive change in state and local education laws and policies than any other federal education program in history.

NCLB was akin to an IBM PC circa 1995 – uniform, powerful, but clunky. Race to the Top is a 2010 iPad – a flexible platform that provides policymakers with dynamic tools to create and adopt innovative apps and nimbly customize them to their specific needs. 

It has mobilized policy-makers, principals and teachers to create the conditions that are needed to help schools meet high standards of excellence, and it has unleashed waves of creativity to reach that goal. Each state has taken its own unique route, yet the objective is common. 

While not all states enacted the big changes we saw in states like Colorado, New York, Louisiana, and Rhode Island, the gains are nonetheless significant. Some states enacted solid reforms that are not revolutionary but take critical steps toward better teacher training and learning. Almost every state, with just a few exceptions, began to re-examine its education policies.

That process is ongoing and will not end with the announcement of the Round 2 finalists today or with the announcement of Round 2 winners in September. States and districts, teachers and parents, are still learning from each other about what’s possible, from both a political and policy perspective. 

Our education system didn’t break overnight, and it will take more than one federal program and more than one 4-year grant cycle to fix it. What is indisputable, however, is that Race to the Top has put wind in the sails of the education reform movement and, in just a year and a half, has accelerated the pace of change more than any other past federal effort and much more than most of us dreamed possible.

Some examples of actions states took on RttT in Round 2:

Arizona: It may not be enough to get the state to the finalist level in Round 2 but Arizona, which scored dead last in Round 1, came back with two significant actions in response to criticisms of inadequate education funding and weak policies:  1) On May 10^th the Governor signed into law SB 1040 after the state legislature approved a new framework for teacher and principal evaluation based in part on student academic progress; 2) On May 18^th , Arizona voters passed Proposition 100, a one cent sales tax increase, preventing $555 million in funding cuts to public schools. 

Colorado: Passage of Senator Mike Johnston’s (D-Denver) teacher evaluation and tenure reform bill (SB 191) on the last day of Colorado’s legislative session in May was largely seen as consecutive years could have tenure suspended. Supporters included the state NAACP, Stand for Children, DFER-Colorado, the American Federation of Teachers, Denver Chamber of Commerce, A+ Denver, and Padres & Jóvenes Unidos.

Connecticut: Connecticut, which ranked 25^th in Round 1, took a significant step forward on school reform on May 5^th, when it passed SB 438 which will require every district to evaluate teachers based on their students’ achievement; establish a data system that links students to their teachers and teachers to their training programs; create new pathways for talented classroom teachers to become principals; and eliminate caps on the number of seats allowed in high-performing public charter schools.

Florida: In Florida, a deal between Governor Crist and teachers’ unions on a new teacher evaluation and merit pay system was announced on May 5^th, just weeks after the governor’s veto on April 15^th of the legislature’s own evaluation and tenure reform bill. The plan, like the vetoed bill, would base at least 50 percent of teacher evaluations on student achievement growth, phased in over several years and would tie teacher pay, in part, to those evaluations.

Illinois: The state passed a new law on May 28^th that strengthens standards for certification of principals and principal preparation programs. This comes on top of a strong Round 1 application with new and robust teacher evaluation and charter school policies, which earned the state 5^th place. Despite not weakening its application in between Round 1 and 2, the state garnered the support of 222 additional school districts, bringing the total to 590.

New York: On May 28^th, just days before the June 1st filing deadline, the state passed three new laws:  1) a new evaluation system designed to measure teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance, including measures of student achievement; 2) a doubling of the cap on public charter schools from 200 to 460, while at the same time setting tougher accountability criteria; 3) a new state longitudinal, comprehensive data system.

New York is home to some of the best public charter schools in the nation, such as Harlem Success Academy (6,000 students on waiting lists) which research shows is closing achievement gaps with districts like Scarsdale without “creaming” the best students, and Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone, which is a national model for a “wraparound,” neighborhood-centered approach to education and social services.

Oklahoma: The state passed strong legislation right before the June 1 deadline that requires districts to restructure the most chronically low-performing schools and gives local school boards more autonomy and power to do so. 

Rhode Island:  On June 10^th the state set into law a new formula that will more equitably dole out money to public schools based on the number of poor students enrolled.  The lack of such a formula was a key reason Rhode Island lost points in Round 1. The Ocean State passed a number of key policy reforms prior to Round 1. 

Race to the Top

By the Numbers 

The Fundamentals

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) allotted $4.35 billion in the federal Race to the Top grant competition. Only 2 states - Delaware ($100 million) and Tennessee  ($500 million – received grants in Round 1. 

41 states, including the District of Columbia, applied to Round 1 of Race to the Top.

36 states, including the District of Columbia, applied to Round 2 of Race to the Top.

Only 4 states sat out both rounds of the federal competition: Texas, Alaska, North Dakota and Vermont.

23 states have passed reform laws in hopes of getting a piece of the prize money.

Standards and Assessments

48 states have signed on to the Common Core Standards Initiatives.

Assessments: 

Three consortia are competing for the $350 million in Race to the Top funding to develop new tests tied to college and career ready standards that move beyond the crude “fill-in-the-bubble” approaches most states use now.

26 states have joined together to create the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC or Partnership). 

The 26 PARCC states educate over 60 percent of the K-12 students in the United States 

Public Charter Schools

At least 13 states – Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Utah – have altered laws or policies to create or expand the number of public charter schools.

Teacher Quality

5 of the 6 states that had “firewalls” barring student achievement data from being used in teacher evaluations repealed those laws: California, Wisconsin, Nevada, Maine, and Indiana.  (New York simply let its law expire.)

At least 11 states – Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee – have enacted legislation that requires student achievement data to be used in teacher evaluation or tenure decisions.

 Quotes on Race to the Top

“The ideas have gained currency at the national level …What was seen as bold is now reform, not revolution.” – Former Baltimore mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, dean of Howard University’s law school, commenting on how the DC contract was part of Race to the Top zeitgeist, June 3, 2010 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/02/AR2010060202762.html 

“As Superintendent of the largest school district in California, Race to the Top represents an opportunity for California to demonstrate true leadership and a commitment to working collaboratively in the interest of our students.” – Ramon C. Cortines, superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District, June 1, 2010 

http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/15270/ 

“There are strong indications that Race to the Top is headed in the right direction. First, and perhaps most important, the number of states that have applied or expressed their intention to apply suggests that we have taken the first steps toward a national education policy.” – Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO, United Negro College Fund, March 29, 2010 

http://education.nationaljournal.com/2010/03/race-to-the-top-and-meaningful.php 

 ”At a time when our schools are squeezed for money in this difficult economy, this is a remarkable opportunity to help students and teachers by bringing innovative and proven approaches into classrooms. The Department of Education has taken a significant step in giving educators the tools they need to address some of the most serious issues facing schools today.” – Attorney Matthew Cregor, Southern Poverty Law SPLC’s website, November 24, 2009

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/race-to-the-top-fund-offers-schools-opportunity-to-improve-discipline 

“Race to the Top supports innovation, and too many of our schools are left without the resources needed to implement solid change, especially in our math and science programs.” - Phil Brockman, president, Association of Washington School Principals, June 1, 2010

http://www.governor.wa.gov/news/news-view.asp?pressRelease=1507&newsType=1

“We need to have our parents and communities rally around their schools, and spread the word across Florida that Race to the Top can provide our schools with additional dollars that can have a lasting impact on our children’s learning environment and their future in a global world.” – Karen Brown, president, Florida Parent Teacher Association, January 8, 2010

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100108/NEWS/100109597?p=2&tc=pg 

“We’ve been very supportive of the [RttT] legislation from beginning. We think it brought real important discussions around key education reforms that we’ve been advocating for many years… We think it’s the right thing to do… We think it’s a good thing for California.” – Debbie Look, director of legislation, California State PTA, (in a news broadcast for Capital Public Radio in Sacramento), January 12, 2010

http://www.capta.org/sections/communication/press-room_2010-01-12.cfm 

“I think this is bold, I think this is needed, I think this is something we have long advocated for – and so the California NAACP applauds the Governor and President Obama for taking the action necessary for the children by turning around these failing schools.” – Alice A. Huffman, President, California State Conference of the NAACP, August 24^th, 2009

http://www.californianaacp.org/downloads/PTP-Governors082409PressConferenceOnFailingSchools-FRESNO.pdf

CityBridge Foundation and DC School Reform Now

Invite you to a FREE screening of the film 

“The Lottery”  

Saturday, June 26, 2010
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Avalon Theater
5612 Connecticut Avenue NW

Nationwide, 58% of African-American 4th graders are functionally illiterate.  In the District of Columbia, on average, African-American 4th graders are almost six years behind white 4th graders in math.  The lack of quality public school options for our most disadvantaged students is one of the most important civil rights issues of our time. 

Join us for a free, public viewing of the moving and important new film “The Lottery,” followed by a Q&A and panel discussion featuring the film’s director, Madeleine Sackler and Washington, D.C. school leaders.

“The Lottery” uncovers a ferocious debate surrounding the education reform movement. Inspirational and heartbreaking, this story of four young children and their parents demonstrates why we must secure quality education for all children.  Interviews with politicians and educators explain not only the crisis in public education, but also why it is fixable.  Click here for the official site and trailer of the film. 

Space is limited and seats will go on a first-come, first-serve basis. RSVP early!  Please let us know if you would be interested in complementary shuttle service from Van Ness Metro to the theater.

RSVP HERE!! 

This screening is sponsored by FOCUS (Friends of Choice in Urban Schools), CityBridge Foundation, and DC School Reform Now, and will be free of charge for guests who RSVP.

Please forward this invitation to your friends.  Those who wish to watch the film but are unavailable to attend this screening can view “The Lottery” daily at the Avalon Theater from June 25 through July 1 at regular ticket prices.

Now, we need your help! Take five minutes of your time in the next few days to call and/or write the DC Council about this momentous vote. We want the Council to understand that the majority of residents in Washington, DC support both paying teachers more and holding them accountable for student achievement. Your call will make a difference.  Take action today using the suggestions below.

 Call to Action:

Once you feel informed about the contract (you can find some links below), do the following:

1)       Make quick calls and/or send emails to the Council member from your ward, the at-large members, and the Council Chairman.  We’ve listed brief ideas on what you could say and their contact information below.

2)       Forward this email to five friends and ask them to follow your lead.

3)       Let us know how YOU supported the ratification of the Teacher’s Contract to improve DC schools by clicking here!.

4)       Stay alert for any updates from us to see what is in store for the contract.

As always, thank you for your advocacy on behalf of our students! 

Please see below for important information about the contract, suggested emails and phone scripts and Councilmember contact information. 

Important Contract Info:

If you haven’t yet read key details of the contract, highlighted by the WTU, you can do so here.  We also encourage you to read our brief memo on how the contract will benefit children: Our Children and the Teacher’s Contract.  A Washington Post editorial that dispels many of the rumors about the budget surplus controversy is also worth reading.

Suggested Phone Call:

Hello, I am a Ward X resident, and a [parent/teacher/student/community member] calling about the upcoming vote on the Teacher’s contract – I wanted to find out what Councilmember X’s position is, and to pass along my two cents.  What is the Councilmember’s position on the contract?

[If the member is supportive]  Well that’s great to hear.  I feel the same way –I think that the Teacher’s Contract ensures that our teachers will be among the highest-performing in the country, and all of our kids in DC deserve an excellent education.  Our education in DC has finally begun improving in recent years and this contract will continue moving us in the right direction.  I plan to vote in the upcoming election and will strongly consider how members vote on school issues, so I’m really pleased to hear that. 

[If the member is uncertain, wavering, or opposed]  I’m really disappointed to hear that.  I think that the Teacher’s Contract ensures that our teachers will be among the highest-performing in the country, and all of our kids in DC deserve an excellent education.  Our education in DC has finally begun improving in recent years and this contract will continue moving us in the right direction.  I hope you will reconsider your position and put students’ needs first. I plan to vote in the upcoming election and will strongly consider how members vote on school issues. 

[End either type of call by being polite, and saying that you’ll be paying attention.]  Well, I appreciate your time.  I’ll be looking at the news to see how the Councilmember voted.

Suggested Email:

Dear Councilmember X,

I am writing to express my support for the Teacher’s Contract.  I think that the agreement ensures that our teachers will be among the highest-performing in the country, and all of our kids in DC deserve an excellent education.  Our education in DC has finally begun improving in recent years and this contract will continue moving us in the right direction.  Improving the District’s struggling education system is one of my highest priorities as a voter, and I hope you will vote to ratify the contract.

Sincerely,

Name

Ward

Councilmember Contacts:

DC School Reform Now Explores How the Contract Helps Students

News outlets, political blogs, and opinion columns have generated much discussion about how the proposed WTU Contract would benefit teachers.  At this point, we have heard a lot about how it increases salaries by an unprecedented 21.6%, provides retroactive pay, defends the right to due process, and offers many new options to excessed employees.

DC School Reform Now believes that the Contract also benefits the greatest stakeholders in DC – our children.  This memo lays out how we believe the Contract will support student achievement.  If you agree, please help us spread the word.

The contract enhances professional development to ensure that teachers have the time, resources, and knowledge to plan effectively.  Teachers bear enormous responsibility for teaching our students: research has shown that the best teachers are capable of eliminating the black-white student achievement gap within as little as four years.[i]  At the same time, teachers cannot give their best performance without the skills, knowledge, resources, and especially the time to plan effectively.  The contract ensures that every teacher will inspire their students by:

• Providing every teacher with a set of explicit expectations for student achievement and an outline of the district and school-level support they will receive to meet those expectations
• Offering teachers at least ten days of school-wide professional development, and at least one day of leave for personal development and reflection, so that they can continually adapt their instruction to meet each student’s needs most effectively
• Establishing three district-wide Teacher Centers, housed at selected schools, where teachers can organize, share best practices, and receive support whenever necessary
• Offering an array of resources for new teachers: assigning them experienced mentors, giving them three days of intensive training at the start of the year, and offering ongoing support throughout their first three years

The contract encourages schools to value self-reflection, improvement, and adaptation to best serve the needs of individual students.  Education professionals cannot work in a vacuum: they must constantly re-evaluate their best practices and revise their routines according to what works best for their students.  And when teachers are not given the tools to identify personal areas of growth, students suffer in stagnant, un-engaging classrooms.  The WTU Contract ensures that all principals and teachers value professional growth and adaptability by:

• Offering a new performance pay system that highly values teacher evaluations and teachers’ unique skills and contributions to the school community above and beyond the classroom 
• Establishing a working group to review the IMPACT evaluation system, so that teachers have a say in how evaluators address their performance 
• Forming a working group of national experts to evaluate IMPACT and ensure that teacher evaluations remain fair, comprehensive, and helpful

The contract implements new programs and allocates additional funds to ensure that both individual schools and the District serve all students effectively.  Students arrive at school with different financial resources and diverse needs for specialized instruction, responsive counseling, and other kinds of academic and emotional support.  Teachers and the District must meet halfway to ensure that these levels of support are available to students at every school.  The WTU Contract codifies such support by:

• Piloting a Student-Teacher Advisory program that places small groups of students with teachers and ensures that every student gets the opportunity to discuss their interests, background, and academic progress with teacher-mentors in an intimate setting
• Forming Support Teams, made up of teachers and parents, that target chronically absent or tardy and/or academically at-risk students and provide them with additional support
• Piloting “Twilight Programs” to form a community for older high school students
• Developing more alternative high schools that innovate in order to reveal the talents of unengaged or underperforming students
• Doubling the start-up funds for each classroom so that teachers can provide the resources their students may not be able to afford

The contract ensures that DCPS teachers will be the highest-performing and most sought-after professionals in the country.  Our children deserve professional educators who are capable, persistent, and dedicated.  DCPS must attract and retain the best and brightest talent in order to ensure that students excel academically.  The WTU Contract ensures that DCPS can attract and retain the best teachers by:

• Offering performance pay raises to teachers with excellent records of improving student achievement, so that such venerable teachers are among the highest-paid in the country
• Stipulating that in the event of an excess, records of accomplishment matter more than seniority, so that the District retains and honors its highest-achieving professionals regardless of their age or tenure

By ensuring that DCPS can attract and retain the best teachers, placing teachers’ professional growth first and foremost, and emphasizing that teachers, schools, and the District at large must remain adaptive to the needs of various kinds of students, the WTU Contract represents a victory for students who too often remain unengaged and unmotivated by their education.  Spread the word: reach out to friends, colleagues, and neighbors and share how specific proposals in the contract will help all our children. 

Lindsay Neil, Executive Director, Colorado affiliate of Stand for Children

New Schools Venture Fund Remarks, May 12, 2010

Good morning everyone! 

My name is Lindsay Neil.  I got my start in education as a teenager when I founded a high school in rural Nicaragua – a school that went on to became one of the country’s best.  Upon returning to Colorado, I moved into the policy arena and now I am proud to serve as the Executive Director of Stand for Children Colorado. 

 Over the last six weeks, Stand and our partners have taken advantage of an opportunity to dramatically change public education in Colorado.  Tinkering around the edges is no longer sufficient to achieve the outcomes that children desperately need.  Stand led a broad coalition of stakeholders that worked hand in hand with a group of bipartisan legislators on a high stakes, hard fought campaign to pass Senate Bill 191, the Great Teachers and Leaders bill.

Today, the last day of Colorado’s legislative session, the Colorado legislature will pass Senate Bill 191.  It will be one of the boldest pieces of education legislation in the country and may be the boldest to ever pass in a state with a Democrat-controlled legislature.

The bill does four fundamentally important things to help Colorado students:

1.  It restructures tenure so that it will be earned and kept based on effectiveness.  No more virtually automatic, lifetime employment for teachers after three years. 
2. It requires annual teacher and principal evaluations that measure their effectiveness, 50 percent of which is based on student academic growth.
3. It allows Colorado school districts to use effectiveness as a guide for laying off teachers, not just seniority.  No more last in – first out and no more laying off teachers of the year while keeping mediocre ones.
4. Finally, it ends the practice of direct or forced teacher placement, making the so-called dance of the lemons a thing of the past in urban school districts across Colorado.

Pretty great, right?

So why is Senate Bill 191 about to pass despite staunch opposition from the Democratic Senate President and the Colorado and National Education Associations?  Three reasons:

First, the decision by Governor Bill Ritter and the Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones to apply for round two of Race to the Top funds.  Had that not happened, Colorado Democrats would have lacked the political will to go up against CEA and the bill would not have made it through its first committee.

Second, a strong, bipartisan group of legislative champions. State Senators Michael Johnston and Nancy Spence, and Representatives Christine Scanlan and Carole Murray, did an outstanding job in a very high pressure environment of making sensible compromises to get key Democrats on board while maintaining Republican support.  And House Speaker Terrance Carroll held his ground despite tremendous division within his Democratic caucus and a relentless effort by the CEA and NEA to water down the bill.

Third, Stand for Children’s bold and sophisticated Great Teachers and Leaders lobbying campaign that backed up legislative sponsors at every turn, gave Democratic supporters critical cover to vote their conscience, and helped win over key Democrats in the final days of the campaign. 

Here are some highlights from the campaign for you:

1. More than 50 education, community and business organizations signed on in support
2. Personal endorsements from more than 20 civic leaders including 4 Colorado Governors and the Commissioner of Education. 
3. School board members, superintendents, principals and teachers – including the American Federation of Teachers Colorado on board
4. Polling showing overwhelming public support for the key tenants of the bill
5. More than 10 supportive Denver Post editorials and columns
6. Over 3,000 calls and emails [to targeted legislators]
7. At least 150 positive news stories and letters to the editor from parents, teachers and business leaders across the state
8. 200 people at the capitol meeting with legislators. 
9. Testimony by Tim Daly from the New Teacher Project and the behind the scenes support of key national leaders, many of whom are in the room today

All of this was critical to counter CEA’s threats to withdraw campaign contributions to Democrats in the fall elections, their six figure radio ad buys, and the scores of CEA teachers who were at the capitol telling legislators, “Poor and minority children have too many challenges to overcome – they can’t learn, and I can’t be held accountable for teaching them.”

The bottom line is that Colorado Education Association was completely alone in their opposition of the bill, which we illustrated in a full page Denver Post ad listing supporters on the same day as a key committee vote.

One of the most inspiring aspects of this campaign was the courageous stand by great teachers, including 4 CEA members who testified in front of the House Education Committee on the same day that NEA President Dennis Van Roekel testified in opposition.

Denver Public School teacher and Stand for Children member, Ben Jackson said it best: “We need teachers in our workforce who advance not because they grown older, but because they get better.”

Colleagues, as a great educator once told me, “This is not about teaching kids. This is about saving lives.”

Through your important work – you are saving lives every day.  But we all know we’re not saving nearly enough.  By coming together as an education community and embracing policy and politics in addition to running great schools you can save so many more lives.

I and my colleagues at Stand for Children look forward to working with many more of you to achieve breakthroughs like the Great Teachers and Leaders bill across the country.

Thank you very much.

In his latest story in the Washington Post, education columnist Bill Turque attempts to piece together what happened in the back-and-forth between the Chancellor’s Office, the CFO, and City Council over a possible budgetary surplus:

“Follow the money, if you can.

First, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee announces that an extra $34 million is available in the D.C. schools budget for teacher pay raises. Two days later, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi declares that not only is most of it nonexistent but also that Rhee is running a projected $30 million over budget in her central office operation.

Within hours, Rhee says an unspecified $29 million has been “identified” to fund the raises.

How this happened, why and how it will be resolved still isn’t clear. Rhee and Gandhi are saving most of their answers for scheduled testimony before the D.C. Council on Friday. Hanging in the balance is the fate of the District’s $140 million tentative agreement with the Washington Teachers’ Union, which is contingent on Gandhi’s certification that the pact is financially sound…”

Read the full story here.

In a Washington Post Op-Ed, parent Caryn Ernst discusses school choice in D.C., and emphasizes families’ responsibility for making real choice a reality:

“I’m a proponent of school choice, and I’m happy that the District has created a system to make the lottery easy and fair. Someday I may take advantage of the choices the system offers for my own children.

What I take issue with, however, is an attitude among parents that we are merely consumers of education. Of course, the school system is responsible for providing the best schools and teachers possible for all of the city’s children. But the fact is, schools become great only if engaged parents make it happen.”

Read the full op-ed here.