As the winners in the Race to the Top competition start spending their $4 billion in grant money, the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 first such education reform contest has left nearly three dozen losing states with ambitious blueprints and no federal cash to put them into action.
In these tough budget times, states that failed to receive a Race to the Top award are scrounging for state funds to implement education overhaul promises they made in their grant applications, raising private money, and taking stock of what really needs to get done.
What happens now in the 35 states that applied and came away empty-handed may vary greatly, but many report they intend to stick with their plans even if it means accomplishing the promised changes at a far slower pace. Still others are asking whether they can鈥攐r even want to鈥攆ulfill the commitments they made as part of the federal contest that became a trademark of the Obama administration鈥檚 education agenda. Some states are stuck with laws enacted as part of the competition that they aren鈥檛 sure they can carry out.
Complicating the tasks in many states are big changes in state leadership in the wake of last fall鈥檚 elections. The governors and state education chiefs who wrote the Race to the Top applications in some cases are not in office anymore.
A case in point is South Carolina, which was a finalist in both rounds of the Race to the Top and could have received $175 million. Superintendent of Education Mick Zais is 鈥渉olding detailed and comprehensive meetings with agency staff as the first steps toward determining which initiatives he wants to maintain from the previous administration,鈥� according to spokesman Jim Foster. Mr. Zais replaces Jim Rex, who mounted an unsuccessful run for governor and did not seek re-election to his education post.
鈥楾hings Are Going to Be Tight鈥�
During two rounds of competition for $4 billion in aid provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, states crafted their most ambitious proposals in four areas: improvement of data systems, teacher effectiveness, standards and assessments, and low-performing schools.
Competitive Stimulus Grants: Winners and Losers
Two years after Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, nearly $100 billion in economic-stimulus aid for education has been handed out鈥攊ncluding nearly $5.3 billion as part of six grant competitions. The grants ranged from money under the high-profile Race to the Top program for states to a lesser-known competition to award emergency construction aid to school districts.
Ten states and their districts did not receive any competitive funding. Of those that did, Florida and New York come out on top in terms of total dollars. On a per-student basis, the District of Columbia, Delaware, and Tennessee were big winners.
SOURCES: 91直播; U.S. Department of Education
Many states passed legislation in hopes of strengthening their applications鈥攅xpanding their charter school sectors in places like New York and Iowa, tying teacher evaluations to student test scores, as in Colorado and Louisiana, and promising to adopt common academic standards in 40-plus states. And some of that legislation came with big price tags, such as Connecticut鈥檚 $300 million plan to require more Advanced Placement classes in high school and better data tracking of students. (鈥淎RRA Brings Home Mixed Report Card,鈥� Feb. 9, 2011.)
And states can鈥檛 count on more money from Congress for a second iteration of the Race to the Top, even though it鈥檚 a priority for the Obama administration, which also has proposed opening the competition to districts in future years.
In released last week by the Center on Education Policy, a policy-analysis group in Washington, at least 16 states that lost out in the competition said they planned to stick with their Race to the Top proposals, even without the federal money they were hoping for.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 good news for the country,鈥� said the center鈥檚 president, Jack Jennings. Rather than a 鈥渟cattershot鈥� approach to education improvement, he said, 鈥渋t shows the states and the federal government are on the same page.鈥�
However, those states indicated it would take longer to accomplish their goals. And at least 12 states said they didn鈥檛 know whether they鈥檇 pursue their plans at all. (The states鈥� names were kept confidential as part of the survey process.)
In Kentucky, officials are forging ahead with a major revamping of the state鈥檚 assessment and accountability system, which began with a new law in 2009 and became the cornerstone of the state鈥檚 Race to the Top application. The state was hoping to win up to $175 million. 鈥淲e never counted on that money,鈥� said Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education. 鈥淭hings are going to be tight.鈥�
To help pay the $40 million cost this year of implementing its new assessment system, the department intercepted $2.6 million that鈥檚 used for professional development in the state鈥檚 174 school districts.
鈥淒istricts don鈥檛 care for that, but we really don鈥檛 have a choice,鈥� Ms. Gross said.
The state may also have to cut funding for the staff working with low-performing schools, which would have been paid for with Race to the Top dollars.
In addition, the state secured a $1 million grant from the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for another element in the its Race to the Top application: providing teachers training and resources in math and reading aligned with the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which includes a majority of states.
In Illinois, which had hoped for up to $400 million in Race to the Top funds, state leaders and education advocates are turning to outside funders. As part of the state鈥檚 application, which put in writing many of the efforts already under way, officials wanted to invest in improving college preparation programs for teachers and school leaders, especially those who will work in high-need schools. The state has now secured $1 million each in pledges from the Chicago Community Trust and New York City-based Teach For America.
To help pay for a proposed a kindergarten-readiness assessment, also included in Illinois鈥� Race to the Top application, state officials have raised $50,000 from the Chicago-based McCormick Foundation. In addition, the state is kicking in $1.5 million from an existing pot of money dedicated to early learning.
And the state is in talks with other philanthropies in hopes of raising more money for other initiatives, said Matt Vanover, a spokesman for the state board of education.
But even then, advocates acknowledge that Illinois, at some point, must find its own money to continue programs such as a kidergarten-readiness assessment.
鈥淭he money helps get things started. But you cannot support a kindergarten-readiness program statewide on private dollars,鈥� said Robin Steans, the executive director of Advance Illinois, a school advocacy group that helped with the state鈥檚 Race to the Top application.
In the face of a state budget deficit that reached as high as $15 billion for next fiscal year, Ms. Steans said the state is committed to using the Race to the Top application as the 鈥済uiding blueprint.鈥�
But some components will be much more difficult than others.
Consider the state鈥檚 鈥淟earning Performance Management System,鈥� a new data system compatible with the state鈥檚 870 districts that would provide timely data to teachers so they could tailor lessons to the individual needs of students. The price tag for the system, according to the state鈥檚 Race to the Top application, is at least $45 million. Still, state officials remain committed to the project, even if it takes longer to accomplish.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big-ticket item that鈥檚 hard to do incrementally,鈥� Ms. Steans said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to be the toughest.鈥�
In Colorado, which applied in both rounds of the competition and was favored by many education policy observers to win, implementing the Race to the Top plan without the money is tough,and the still-sour economy makes it tougher. Recently inaugurated Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has proposed cutting K-12 education by $375 million, as part of his $7.2 billion budget request. The state鈥檚 Race to the Top award could have reached $175 million.
State education officials are not deterred from implementing their plan, much of which is now in statute, including a plan to tie teacher evaluations to student academic-achievement growth.
鈥淚 think we were absolutely genuine about this being the right plan for us,鈥� said Nina Lopez, a special assistant to Colorado Commissioner of Education Robert Hammond.
But many parts of the plan cost money鈥攕uch as training teachers to employ new content standards, building a sophisticated new data system, and training teachers and administrators in how to use it.
That means the state is going to look for opportunities to collaborate with other states to save money, such as in devising curricula for the new common-core standards. And Colorado secured $1.9 million in grants from the Gates Foundation and local foundations to pick up a small portion of the tab, to 鈥渒eep the momentum going,鈥� Ms. Lopez said.
But it鈥檚 not just the loss of money that stings. Ms. Lopez pointed out that the Race to the Top winners get to attend technical-assistance workshops with federal officials for help in carrying out their plans. The losers don鈥檛 have that opportunity, either. 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry there aren鈥檛 better mechanisms to aggregate what we鈥檙e doing, because we鈥檙e all doing a lot of the same things,鈥� Ms. Lopez said.
