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”Our section on the expansion of stem career and technical program offerings was recognized as a model for the State and was published as such,“ said Assistant Superintendent Lynette Edwards.
Critics of the program have pointed out that performance pay structures in education force teachers to compete for a limited pool of merit-pay instead of collaborating to provide the best possible education.
”This is pay based on performance and it should not have a negative effect on the education system that is already in place,“ said Superintendent Tim McGonegal
Authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Race to the Top Assessment Program provides funding to a number of States to develop assessments and measure student achievement against standards designed in an attempt to ensure that all students gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in college and the workplace.
The program was an effort brought forth by the Obama Administration to help meet the President's goal of restoring, by 2020, the nation's position as the world leader in college graduates.
”Race to the top is more like control from the top,“ said Dave ”Watchdog“ Miner, a candidate in the recent election. “To give more control to Washington on what goes on in the class room. I would do backward flips up the aisle behind me if I thought that there was the slightest chance that approving this tonight would in any way improve education for one child in this school district. I’m afraid it will have the opposite effect.
Through the Race to the Top Assessment Program, the Department will award two categories of grants: (A) Comprehensive Assessment Systems grants, and (B) High School Course Assessment Programs grants.
However, another censure regarding the program require states that receive a Race to the Top grant to use at least 50 percent of the award to provide sub-grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that operate by using a percentage of the budget from the public schools system. This is particularly difficult for many states that have no charter school law or have a cap on the number of charter schools allowed.
Two charter schools withdrew from application -- Imagine North and Imagine Lakewood Ranch. They didn’t give a reason for withdrawing, but the board thought they reversed their decision after they saw all that was involved and what was required. Superintendent Tim McGonegal said that the charter schools were reluctant to disclose information required to participate, such as teacher salaries.
Another concern is the emphasis the Race to the Top competition puts on standardized testing. There could be unintended consequences from reliance on standardized tests -- such as ”teaching to the test“ like some perceive the FCAT to require.
”This act of legislation would rate students based on objective tests and I’m not sure that is the best direction,“ said Dave Miner.
Most board members found the program to have more benefits than detriments for students.
”Is there anything in this legislation that won’t be to the advantage of our students?“ asked board member Barbra Harvey.
”No,“ replied Tim McGonegal. ”The biggest piece of local control that we lost was when the legislatures approved the differentiality of accountability and that didn’t come from Washington, it came from Tallahassee.“
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