Ohio has pledged a minimum funding level to districts and charter schools that sign onto the state's round-two RttT application in an effort to increase buy in from LEAs. The largest awards would go to Cleveland Metropolitan Schools ($21.6 million), Columbus City Schools ($15 million), Cincinnati Public Schools ($9.4 million), Toledo Public Schools ($7.9 million) and Akron Public Schools ($6.7), should the Buckeye State win. These districts need this money, as do the state's other high-poverty districts and charter schools.
With most public commentary focusing on buy-in as the key ingredient to winning, it's not too surprising that the governor and the state superintendent are calling for more district and union participation. We absolutely agree that Ohio's round-two process should seek more support, with more elbows at the table than were present in the first round. And Governor Strickland was spot on to question districts and local unions that rejected potential millions in the first round.
We still hope that Ohio moves forward with substantive changes to its application beyond just increasing stakeholder buy-in, especially in the areas of Great Teachers & Leaders. We hope this because we believe these reforms can really make a difference with the state's neediest children. But the big question is whether Secretary Duncan will stay true to the original intent of Race to the Top when he said the bar was set very, very high.? Unless he's sequestered from the newspapers, he's probably reading the same headlines as the rest of us.
Daily headlines in Ohio read Hundreds of Cleveland teachers, principals to lose jobs, 39 teachers among 50 jobs cut, and 92 jobs at risk in Dayton schools. Educators are losing their jobs left and right and because of this fact alone, we expect Ohio to garner more LEA buy-in than it did during the first round.
We certainly hope that Ohio seeks bold reforms where it is weakest (e.g., equitable distribution of teachers in high-poverty, high-minority schools or in high-need subjects; improving charter school climate; better strategies for closing achievement gaps), and that districts genuinely want to pursue reforms in these areas and have the capacity to implement them. But there's a tremendous tension worth noting. Districts are literally starving for funds (and certainly Ohio isn't the only place where this is happening), and they've seen the individualized estimates for how much money RttT would bring, alongside their budget holes, which is like putting a plate of food in front in front of a starving man. In this context, will Sec. Duncan and his team adhere to the original spirit and intent of Race to the Top and award funds to only a few more states in the second round? Will terrible timing (the fact that RttT coincided with some of the most brutal economic realities in decades) force compromises?
- Jamie Davies O'Leary
