Connecticut may have lost round one and two, but New Haven is not despairing in the race for federal education money — it’s looking ahead to the next competition.
Disappointment abounded across the state Tuesday, as the federal Department of Education announced that Connecticut was not among the 18 states chosen to partake in more than $3 billion in the second round of funding for Race to the Top. Under President Obama’s education initiative, states have to compete for funding based on how ready they are to accept certain reforms.
New Haven Public Schools stood to gain nearly $10 million if Connecticut had won the competition. The state was vying for a $175 million grant. Connecticut lost the first round in March, then reapplied.
The New Haven school district would have used the money to boost its ambitious school reform effort, which aims to close the achievement gap in five years, cut the dropout rate in half and ensure every kid has the chance to go to college. New Haven’s approach, especially its teacher evaluation system and teacher contract, has gained praise and attention from top federal education officials.
Melissa Bailey File Photo
New Haven school board member Alex Johnston (pictured) said while it’s “certainly disappointing for New Haven and other districts” that Connecticut lost the second round of funding, there’s still hope for forward-thinking cities like New Haven and Hartford.
That’s because of a surprise vote on July 15, when the U.S. House appropriations subcommittee showed support for Race to the Top by adding $800 million to extend the program for another year. That money would be put into a third phase, which would be available directly to districts. The past two rounds of funding passed through the states. New Haven is ahead of the state by several measures when it comes to making the kind of reforms that Education Secretary Arne Duncan is looking for. For example, New Haven’s teacher evaluations already link teacher success to student performance.
“This round 3 competition is a big opportunity for New Haven,” said Johnston, who’s the CEO of the education watchdog group ConnCAN.
The Race to the Top money is targeted to support reforms in four areas: preparing kids for college; building data systems to measure student progress; recruiting and retaining quality staff; and turning around the lowest-achieving schools. Its goals are closely aligned with New Haven’s plan to cut the dropout rate in half, eliminate the achievement gap in five years, and turn around its poorest-performing schools.
Because of this alignment, New Haven would be “very well-positioned” to win a third round of funding, Johnston opined. He had warned back in January that Connecticut was thwarting the chances of getting the money to cities who need it, because the state and governor had been slow at making reforms.
In order to improve its chances in the second round of Race to the Top, the state passed a slew of education reforms —including easing the cap on charter schools and tying teacher evaluations to student performance. The legislation was an important step forward for the state, but the feedback Tuesday was “it wasn’t enough,” Johnston said.
“I imagine that not getting the funding will slow the state down,” in its reforms, but it won’t slow the city down, said New Haven school reform czar Garth Harries. The $10 million in Race to the Top money would have been a huge help, but “we didn’t make specific plans around it.”
Harries said the city has long expected to be able to apply for a third round. He doesn’t know how much money New Haven could stand to gain, but he shared Johnston’s optimism in the city’s chances.
“We think we’d be extremely well-positioned for a Round 3 application,” Harries said. “The heart of what we’re trying to do is a comprehensive reform effort of the kind that Race to the Top is explicitly designed to support.”
Of course, funding for a third round still needs approval by the U.S. House and Senate. As the bill moves through Congress, New Haven will be watching, Harries said.
“If it gets approved, and there’s an application process, we would expect to be in it,” he said.
obama is borrowing 41 cents of every dollar spent on this program, and all his other lame programs.
It seems that when his supporters hear the words "federal funds", they think its some magic bag of cash that flows out of some secret spigot in DC. Who the heck do you think is going to have to pay that back?