If you haven't read Andy's new "Stimulus Watch" piece from the American Enterprise Institute, get right on it. But be prepared: it will leave you feeling depressed about the Race to the Top, what with its over-exaggerated claims of success, the all-too-familiar deals cut with unions behind closed doors, and many lost opportunities at the state level to enact truly visionary reform. [quote]
So here's some advice (especially for those of us on the East Coast or Midwest who are already dealing with gloomy weather today): pep yourself up by also reading the new report from the Policy Innovators in Education Network (PIE Net), The Race to Reform.
PIE Net is a collaborative of 20-odd state based education reform organizations, including such brand-name groups as ConnCan, EdVoice, Ed Trust-West, Advance Illinois,?? the Foundation for Florida's Future, and the Rodel Foundation. Fordham helped to launch PIE Net three years ago in partnership with the Center for American Progress, Education Sector, and the Center for Reinventing Public Education. (Our Ohio operation participates as a member; I'm taking a turn as the chair of its steering committee.)
In the Race to Reform, the Hechinger Institute's Richard Lee Colvin chronicles the ways in which these advocacy groups were able to leverage Race to the Top to move the reform ball forward in their states. What comes through is the sense that RTTT was a godsend, providing a rare opportunity for state policymakers to view reform as in their self-interest. Yes, politicians got interested because of the big money that was at stake, but so what? As Cynthia Brown of the Center for American Progress told Colvin, "We haven't seen the kind of action that we've seen in states in the past year since the ???Nation at Risk' report."
But what the report really indicates is how important it is for school reformers to have a voice at the state level. These groups aren't think tanks; they don't just blog or put out white papers like many of us in Washington do. They get into the closed-door meetings, testify at hearings, stir up the grass roots, work the media, and put pressure on politicians to do the right thing. And they are redefining what's possible. And most importantly, they are getting results.
It's almost enough to make you smile on a dreary day.
-Mike Petrilli
