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| Race to the Top Fund; Detroit News- November 12, 2009 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 12 2009, 12:54 PM (4,834 Views) | |
| Administrator | Jul 27 2010, 10:11 PM Post #101 |
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Michigan Left Off 'Race To The Top' List Again (2010-07-27) (photo by Steve Carmody, Michigan Radio) LANSING, MI (Associated Press) - Michigan has again been shut out in a federal competition to win extra federal money for public schools. The state was not among the 19 finalists announced Tuesday as still in the hunt for the second round of Race to the Top money from the federal government. The state's application sought about $400 million and outlines how Michigan would use the money to try and improve school performance. The Michigan plan focuses on improving student achievement and builds on new laws approved in January. The application received broad support from local school boards and teachers unions. Only Tennessee and Delaware won money in the first round of the Obama administration competition aimed at improving schools. © Copyright 2010, Associated Press http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/michigan/news.newsmain/article/0/7/1680838/Education/Michigan.Left.Off.'Race.To.The.Top'.List.Again. |
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| Administrator | Jul 27 2010, 10:16 PM Post #102 |
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Michigan not among second phase finalists for federal Race to the Top dollars Published: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 1:58 PM Updated: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 6:56 PM Dave Murray | The Grand Rapids Press Perhaps Michigan’s story wasn’t compelling enough — again. The state was not one of 18 plus the District of Columbia named Tuesday by the U.S. Education Department as a finalist for hundreds of millions of federal grants through the Race to the Top program. Winners were: Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina. Share Add Delaware and Tennessee, who were chosen as winners in the first round of the competition. Michigan leaders passed a series of school reform laws as part of the Race to the Top application, issued a release this afternoon saying they are committed to the changes even though it appears $400 million in federal money won’t be coming. “We are disappointed that Michigan’s efforts to strengthen our public schools and ensure that every child is successful were not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education,” said Gov. Jennifer Granholm. “We felt our strong application effectively detailed our efforts to improve instruction and student performance and had extraordinary support from local school districts and the labor unions.” The new laws include statewide plan to turnaround low-performing schools, linking teacher evaluations to test scores, raising the dropout age to 18, expanding charter schools and accepting nationally accepted common standards. State Superintendent Michael Flanagan said in the release that the Education Department will review the feedback on the application to see where the state lost points. Flanagan fell on the sword after the first round failure, telling people attending the Governor’s Education Summit that he “made more mistakes than anyone.” But Michigan was criticized for not having the labor unions fully on board. That wasn’t an issue in the second round. But at that same session, Sally Vaughn, the state’s chief academic officer, replied that the two winning states are smaller and had more experience with creating student data bases. Plus, she said, they had a “compelling story.” E-mail Dave Murray: dmurray@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterDMurray http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/07/michigan_not_among_second_phas.html |
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| Administrator | Jul 29 2010, 07:20 PM Post #103 |
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Michigan loses final bid for Race to Top school cash Critics blame unions, but no reason given for $400M snub Karen Bouffard and Nathan Hurst / The Detroit News The Michigan Education Association was criticized Tuesday for pressuring lawmakers to water down teacher evaluation rules in the state's school reform package, resulting in Michigan losing out a second time on millions in federal funds. Michigan requires only a "significant" portion of teacher job reviews be linked to student data, leaving open to interpretation how much of teachers' final ratings would be based on test scores. Delaware and Tennessee, the only winners in the first round of Race to the Top awards in March, require at least 50 percent of teachers' evaluations be based on their students' performance. Critics charge the Michigan requirements were softened to gain union approval of the state's application. Advertisement The state enacted in January education reform laws, hoping to win nearly $400 million to implement the reforms. The laws lay out a plan to turn around low-performing schools, expand charter schools, establish common standards, and revamp teacher and administrator certification and evaluation rules. Even without federal money, the reforms will go into effect. But with Michigan losing twice in the competition launched by President Barack Obama to spur education reform and student achievement, officials were weighing in to lay blame and the MEA deflected the criticism. "I think (the U.S. Department of Education) is concerned we didn't adequately define what portion of teachers' evaluations would be based on student performance," said state Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. "The MEA did block previous attempts to get a more clear definition of teacher evaluations (and) ... certainly hasn't been helpful in our meeting the requirements of the application." Doug Pratt, spokesman for the MEA, said the union is once again being used as a "scapegoat" in the state's failure to be chosen by the U.S. Department of Education. "We were fully engaged in a collaborative process where labor and the administration were all in collaboration," Pratt said. "We're disappointed just like everybody else is." Don Wotruba, deputy director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, said he wouldn't blame the MEA. School districts wanted flexibility in how to evaluate their teachers, he said. "We argued, 'Let us choose, and don't come in with a hammer,' " Wotruba said. "The MEA stepped in and said we don't like that model either. Both of us were looking for some local control." Nineteen second round finalists were announced by Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Tuesday: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department of Education has not released grades for the 36 states that applied for the second round of funding, and spokeswoman Liz Utrup said the agency won't release evaluators' comments on Michigan until the final selections have been made in September. Martin Ackley, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education, said department officials won't comment on Michigan not being selected until they review evaluators' comments. Michigan was graded down in the first round because the MEA and many union locals refused to back the state's Race to the Top application. The second application had union support. "The first time we refused because the process wasn't collaborative and the concerns we were raising were addressed," Pratt said. "Those concerns were addressed in the second round." Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Michigan Department of Education released a statement expressing disappointment, saying the state had support from districts and labor unions. Duncan wouldn't say what factors figured into the selections, and noted losing states would be eligible for other money. There is $3.4 billion left in this fiscal year's Race to the Top funding; an additional $1.35 billion has been requested by the White House for the 2011 budget. From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100728/SCHOOLS/7280373/1026/rss06#ixzz0v7Hin9PD |
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| Administrator | Jul 29 2010, 07:22 PM Post #104 |
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Should Michigan repeal education reforms after they failed to earn state Race to the Top funding? Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 5:12 AM Dave Murray | The Grand Rapids Press Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks about the federal "Race to the Top" school reform grant competition on Tuesday. Share With hopes of $400 million in federal money for school reform fading fast, teachers union leaders say the state should consider repealing some of the changes made this year as part of Michigan's Race to the Top application. But lawmakers who worked on the reforms -- which include taking over failing schools and linking teacher evaluations to test scores -- said dismantling them would be a mistake. "It's going to take Michigan some time to grow into education reform," said state Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland. "But I firmly believe that, when we look back in 20 years, our newest reforms will be viewed as a defining moment in public education." The U.S. Education Department on Tuesday listed 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the second round of the $4.35 billion federal reform package. Up to a dozen states are expected to be named winners in September, joining first-round awardees Delaware and Tennessee. The new laws -- signed in time to be included in the Race application -- include raising the dropout age to 18, expanding charter schools and accepting common academic standards. Teachers union leaders fought some of the proposals in the first application, costing some points in the formula used to pick winners. But organized labor was brought into the fold for the second attempt. "Anyone who thought we were the reason for the failure in the first round certainly can't say that now," said Doug Pratt, communications director for the Michigan Education Association. "We're disappointed, because that $400 million would have been a big help. But we need to keep the eye on the big picture. That $400 million in one-time money would not have solved the long-term problems facing Michigan schools." The performance in the first two rounds doesn't bode well for Michigan's chances in a potential third round, and Pratt said lawmakers should realize they need to either come up with the money to pay for the changes -- or consider delaying or eliminating some of the moves. "That's something to look at. Anyone who voted for this in response to (state Superintendent) Mike Flanagan saying we were in line for hundreds of millions of dollars has the right to take another look at things. Some of the items in that package are worth a second look. And if you want to keep them, you have to come up with a way to pay for them." Kuipers, who chairs the state Senate Education Committee, was one of the architects of the reform legislation and said he doesn't want to see it taken apart piece by piece. Although the state won't know until August what the federal government didn't like, Kuipers said he suspects the teacher evaluation plan fell short. Michigan's application said test scores would be a significant aspect of teacher evaluations, but didn't define "significant," Kuipers said. "Our legislation looked down the road at tenure reform," Kuipers said. "The feds would like our reforms to go further down the road in evaluating teachers by student achievement and getting rid of bad teachers." Flanagan sent superintendents an e-mail Tuesday saying he remains committed. "Whether or not Michigan had been selected as a winner in Race to the Top, the historic education reform laws give us the tools to move Michigan schools forward to give every child in Michigan the highest quality education and successfully prepare them for the jobs of the 21st Century," he wrote. What some educators said they did not see is a promise to follow through with the money. Grandville Superintendent Ron Caniff said districts now are required to evaluate teachers and administrators annually. "There's going to be a cost associated with that, if you want to do it properly," he said. "There's also the plan to link compensation to student achievement, stopping short of calling it merit pay, though that seems to be the intent. There's a cost associated with that, too." Caniff noted the state Supreme Court ruled that plans to require schools to maintain large amounts of education information without the state paying for it amounted to an unfunded mandate, violating the state constitution's Headlee Amendment. He said it could be debated that some of the Race to the Top mandates also could be a violation. But state Sen. Mark Jansen said there might be some money available in the school aid fund, which in May recorded an unexpected $300 million surplus, though lawmakers considered diverting that to other parts of the budget. "That may be a way to fund some of these programs, such as the alternative path for teacher certification," he said. "That may be a fair conversation to have. But I certainly wouldn't want to see these reforms repealed." -- Press staff writer Kym Reinstadler contributed to this report E-mail Dave Murray: dmurray@grpress.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterDMurray http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/should_michigan_repeal_educati.html |
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| Administrator | Aug 4 2010, 02:58 PM Post #105 |
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Editorial: Don't stop Race to the Top education reform Published: Tuesday, August 03, 2010, 9:00 AM The Grand Rapids Press Editorial Board Late last year, the state Legislature enacted education reforms that will make Michigan schools better. The impetus for those changes was a shot at more federal money through President Barack Obama’s “Race to the Top” program. It should not have taken a Washington sweetener to enact the reforms, which are aimed at improving student achievement. They were the right thing to do for school children in Michigan. Now, the reforms should stay in place, even though last week Michigan lost in the second round of Race to the Top grants. The state was in line for $400 million of $4.35 billion of federal cash. The U.S. Department of Education last week listed 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the second round. As many as a dozen states are expected to be named winners in September. Delaware and Tennessee won the first round. Despite the importance and usefulness of these reforms, the Michigan Education Association is sounding skeptical notes about keeping them in place. The MEA wants the Legislature to revisit the plans and consider repealing them, probably because the reforms give teachers greater scrutiny and more accountability. But repeal is exactly the wrong way to go. Still, the MEA’s misguided decision to throw cold water on the Race to the Top laws is no surprise. In fact, it’s consistent with past efforts to block the changes. The MEA was partially responsible for killing the first application for federal funds. The lack of buy-in from the teachers union signaled to U.S. Department of Education officials that Michigan wasn’t serious about restructuring schools. In the second round, the unions were united behind the reforms. Why Michigan lost in round two will be revealed this month sometime. It’s important to remember why the Obama administration is pushing states toward these changes in the first place. The reforms allow the state superintendent to effectively intervene in the lowest-achieving schools. The laws allow for the creation of new charter schools in some of the poorest parts of the state, and the closure of charter schools that aren’t working. Rigorous new evaluation systems for teachers and administrators based on student test score improvement will be put into place. The dropout age will rise from 16 to 18, keeping students in school longer. In addition, the reforms provide new routes to teacher certification. Schools complain that these new rules may cost them more money. To the extent that is true, lawmakers ought to find sources of funding to help. But federal money or not, state leaders should not back away from these overdue changes to education in Michigan. E-mail a letter to the editor for publication in print: pulse@grpress.com Please keep letters to less than 200 words and include your full name, home address and phone number. http://www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/08/editorial_dont_stop_race_to_th.html |
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