Ed Week's Michele McNeil broke the news last week that Arne Duncan has decided not to release the names of the "Race to the Top" reviewers--until after the competition is over and grants have been announced. Rick Hess has been all over this (here and here), which forced a bloggy response from Duncan and made Eduwonk Andy schizophrenic.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="The Department of Education won't tell who's reviewing the "Race to the Top" applications."]
[/caption]
Here's my advice, Mr. Secretary: release the names, release everything, and right away. Here's why: sooner or later, you're going to get a dreaded call from the White House, probably??from Rahm Emanuel himself. He's going to say something like, "Look, Arne,??we understand that all of??the first-round??grants are going to red states,??and that's a problem." Or, maybe this fall, when the second??round of grants are due, "Look, Arne, our friend Ted Strickland is locked in a tough re-election race, and we really need him in place for 2012. We understand that, legally, the review panels are just advisory; that you as Secretary have the discretion to fund anyone you want. So...can you help?"
And if you've released everything--the applications themselves, the names of the reviewers, all??of the instructions given to the panels,??etc.--then the??whole policy community will be able to see for ourselves which states most deserve the money.??There??will be some close calls, for sure. But??if a state with a mediocre (or worse) application gets the money, we'll know there's been funny business.??And then you can say:
"Rahm, I hear you, but it's clear as day to everyone that [State X] doesn't deserve to get the money. If we do this, it will be obvious, and be seen as transparently political. It will engulf the President in a huge scandal. There's just no way around it."
Release the names, publish all the nitty gritty details, and buy yourself some insurance. Trust me, this kind of stuff happens.
-Mike Petrilli
Photograph by Flowery *L*u*z*a* from Flickr
