The US Department of Education had the opportunity today to send a clear signal--that the Race to the Top is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, that very good wouldn't be good enough, that only the biggest and boldest plans would merit consideration.
Instead, the administration accepted 15 states and Washington, DC--nearly 1/3 of all applicants--as finalists.
The list includes Kentucky, a state with no charter law and New York, which brashly rejected reform legislation--including a critical cap lift provision--in advance of the deadline. It includes Colorado, which backed off of important reforms related to teachers, and Ohio, whose proposal was weak in a number of areas.
I'll have more to say about these applications in the hours and days to come, but for now my major reaction is disappointment. In an interview with Education Week at the beginning of December, Secretary Duncan said the following:
It's interesting to me that you have folks out there that don't quite believe that we're going to keep a high bar. It's sort of amazing to me. The more explicit you guys could be would be helpful. It's going to be a very, very high bar. People won't believe it until we do it. Obviously, hold us accountable for sticking to that. I can't be more clear or explicit about it.
By sending forward a number of states with such glaring deficiencies, the Department did not set a "very, very high bar."
I was preparing to heap praise on the administration for doing as they had suggested--only shining a spotlight on the very best of the best. I expected a finalist list of 5 and was quietly hoping for 3. My worst-case scenario was 12. I never would have imagined 16.
--Andy Smarick