"Race to the Top states have made tremendous strides in this first year," raved Arne Duncan in a Tuesday press release, praising the “courage and commitment” that the twelve first-round grant recipients had shown in implementing their proposals. In a dozen state-by-state progress reports, the Department of Education described a year of great progress with only a few bad actors—Florida, New York, and Hawaii—who, rest assured, would be dealt with shortly. Kudos to Duncan for calling out three RttT winners guilty of minimal progress, but the rosy overall assessment is troubling. Every single state has reneged on at least one aspect of its proposal, and most are just beginning to spend the billions Uncle Sam doled out in a competition that looks increasingly more like a stroll than a sprint. While it’s probably unreasonable to expect much more in the way of critical self-reflection from the Obama Administration in an election year, stating the obvious isn’t the same as accountability. Here’s hoping that the folks at 400 Maryland Avenue are much more concerned than Tuesday’s reports suggest.
“Big Race to Top Problems in Hawaii, Florida, N.Y., Says Ed. Dept.,” by Michele McNeil, Politics K-12 blog, January 10, 2012
