Category Archives: Federal Government

Last week I introduced you to a new iVoices podcast with Peggy Littleton from the State Board of Education raising legitimate concerns about Race to the Top and a slide toward national standards. Last week, Littleton joined state senator Michael Johnston on an episode of Jon Caldara’s show Devil’s Advocate to discuss both Senate Bill 191 and the Race to the Top requirement to sign on to Common Core standards. Check out the YouTube playlist for a great debate! The compelling give-and-take on Devil’s Advocate is a microcosm of a larger national debate playing out. Checker Finn from the Fordham Institute is all for the reform, saying the newly-released Common Core Standards are “better than ever.” But education experts from the Heritage Foundation disagree, saying it puts us on a path to standardizing mediocrity, while the venerable Dr. Jay Greene continues his strong compelling case against Common Core. What can I say? Tune in, get informed and get involved in the debate to determine who sets academic standards for Colorado.

I’ve written plenty about Colorado’s ongoing quest for Race to the Top federal education grant money. I’ve noted both the promise and the peril within this pursuit. But one issue I have yet to highlight is the Race to the Top requirement that states sign on to the Common Core Standards. In a new iVoices podcast, Colorado State Board of Education member Peggy Littleton explains how the pull of federal money threatens to lead us down a path towards national testing and curriculum, undermining local control and in some cases watering down the quality of standards. Follow this link or click the play button below to listen:

Not that it’s a huge surprise, but we’ve learned the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to take a second look at the Ninth Circuit decision striking down Arizona’s 13-year-old individual scholarship tax credit program. The American Federation for Children reports this morning: Supporters of school choice programs that provide children with educational opportunity will once again have their day in court—in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court decided today that it would hear an appeal to a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that declared an Arizona school choice program unconstitutional.

Nearly three months ago Rhode Island’s Central Falls High School made the national news when Superintendent Fran Gallo fired teachers and other employees en masse when the union refused to make some concessions aimed at helping to turn around the low-performing school. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan weighed in with supporting comments, and the spotlight grew even larger. Well, as of Sunday, a chapter has closed on this story. Central Falls has re-hired the teachers (H/T Alan Gottlieb). At first blush, Flypaper’s Andy Smarick worried aloud that the re-hiring was poorly conceded on a deal that wouldn’t aid the turnaround. But with more information in hand showing a strong, favorable deal had been reached, Rick Hess remarked:

From today through Thursday, you have the chance to help decide where President Obama gives a high school commencement address later this year. Why should you care? Besides some hint of local pride from my fellow Coloradans, that is. Because as David Greenberg points out on the Ed News Colorado blog, one of the six finalists is the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST). The school’s track record of success is impressive. And Flypaper’s Mike Petrilli offers even more reasons to vote for DSST. So here’s your assignment for the week: Go to the White House website so you can review and rate each of the six finalists’ brief essay and video entries. I am confident you will do the right thing and give your highest ratings to the Denver School of Science and Technology. This isn’t about what you think of President Obama, but about putting the national spotlight on a successful charter school that is replicating throughout Denver.

Update: Correction made to quote below, per Jeremy Meyer. Colorado faced a disappointing setback earlier this week with the first round awards announced for Race to the Top. It hurt not only that our state wasn’t one of the top two winners, but that we ended up a dismal 14th out of 16 finalists. Today brings a little more hope, though, and you wouldn’t be an April fool for believing it. First, the Denver Post‘s Jeremy Meyer blogs on a great catch: Colorado had the largest differential between reviewer scores than any other applicant among the final 16 finalists for the first round of Race to the Top money. Colorado had the second-largest differential between reviewer scores among the final 16 finalists for the first round of Race to the Top money. More specifically, one reviewer rated Colorado just a hair behind first-place Delaware, while another reviewer rated Colorado 117 points lower, essentially “in 28th place behind California.” Whoa! But if you believe the latter score was an outlier, then maybe winning a Round 2 award is within reach. Let’s follow the lead of the other winning state Tennessee. Our state could pass a new law that overhauls teacher tenure […]

Yesterday I gave you the lowdown on the winners of Round One Race to the Top dollars. But we keep learning more all the time. First, my Education Policy Center friends Pam Benigno and Ben DeGrow discuss the fact that Colorado missed out on the money and why prospects for the second round of reforms may not be so great. Click the play button below (or follow this link) to listen to the new iVoices podcast: But even since the podcast was recorded, we’ve learned more details about the Race to the Top awards. I have to admit I was quite surprised that Colorado finished 14th out of 16 (PDF)! At the Flypaper blog, Andy Smarick shows some connection between strong buy-in from unions and district leaders and higher scores. Unfortunately, as an exception, that didn’t work out too well for Colorado. Even so, it’s promising to see state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle begin to interpret the results as a sign to move ahead on real substantive reform of teacher evaluations and tenure. While I still have some skepticism, Race to the Top does have the chance to effect some good here in Colorado. Let’s hope the […]

It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and the big news in the education world? Colorado didn’t win any Race to the Top (RTT) federal grant money the first time around. Since only two awards were given out — Delaware and Tennessee of all places were the winners — there should be lots of money left over for Round 2 (applications due June 1). Depending on how you look at it, the news is good and bad. From the standpoint of demonstrating seriousness about advancing real reform, the fact that only two states won suggests the U.S. Department of Education was trying to hold to some kind of selective standard. But just what the standard might be has some rightly concerned. Andy Smarick — about the most trusted expert in evaluating RTT applications I’ve seen — had Delaware and Tennessee ranked 4th and 5th, respectively. He notes, however, that the two winners “distinguished themselves with good plans and nearly unanimous union and LEA support.” They beat out higher-ranked Florida, Louisiana and Rhode Island, which had stronger plans but more opposition from entrenched in-state education groups. The venerable Dr. Jay Greene elaborates on the consequences: If people know that union […]

Yesterday my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow appeared on a National Public Radio station in the Carbondale / Aspen area to talk about some of the pressing education issues facing our state. Follow this link to listen to his interview with Matthew Katz of KDNK. For more on the topics Ben references in his interview, check out these past posts of mine: National Council on Teacher Quality Affirms Me on Race to the Top “Sweet 16” Too Many Finalists, Race to the Top Winners Get “One Shining Moment”? How to Push Ben DeGrow’s Buttons in Making Arguments about School Funding iVoices: Superintendent Mike Miles on Real Teacher Performance Pay in Harrison Ben tells me that he was selected for the interview because the KDNK reporter was intrigued by my writings here. I asked Ben for a cut of the money he got for doing the interview, or I might have to resort to kicking his shins or something like that. I’m not sure I should believe him, but Ben said he didn’t make a cent for doing the interview. Oh well, at least KDNK gave a shout-out to Ed Is Watching — even if they let Ben pretend and […]

I’ve talked so much about Race to the Top, you might have gotten the idea it’s the only big federal education grant competition taking place right now. If so, you’d be wrong. While it’s not as big as Race to the Top and that program’s $5 billion potential to leverage reform at the state level, this month opens up a $650 million U.S. Department of Education program called Investing in Innovation (i3), available to local education agencies and/or non-profit groups: