State eyes federal school aid

OLYMPIA - Gov. Chris Gregoire and state Superintendent Randy Dorn hope school districts and teachers and principals unions statewide sign on to the state’s application to the second round of federal Race to the Top funding.

The competitive grant program is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also commonly known as federal economic stimulus money. It asks states to apply for funding for education reforms with their plans for:

 • Enhancing standards and assessments.

 • Improving the collection and use of data.

 • Increasing teacher effectiveness.

 • Achieving equity in teacher distribution.

 • Turning around struggling schools.

Gregoire and Dorn say that though the education reform bills passed and signed last month cover many of the grant criteria, local approval by most of the school boards, superintendents, and principals and teachers unions is a key piece of the state’s application.

There are 295 local school districts in Washington. As of Thursday, nine districts have signed on.

“At some point here, if we don’t get enough, I can’t put my name on the dotted line,” Gregoire said. “I am submitting for the state of Washington, and if I don’t have all in, or at least, by far and away, most of our kids represented, I really question whether we should sign up.”

STATE EDUCATION REFORM

Washington was one of 10 states that did not apply for grant money in the first round because Gregoire and Dorn did not believe the state had the education laws in place to score well.

“If we put it in, I think you couldn’t look people in the eye and say this is legitimate,” Dorn said.

Two of the 40 states that applied received funding in the first round.

The education legislation Gregoire signed March 29 addressed some gaps the state’s application. She said the bills were not forced through by the Race to the Top criteria, but the result of education reform commissions, including the recent Washington Learns commission.

“It wasn’t new to us, it was the culmination of what we have worked on over time,” she said. “It’s ours. It’s not dictated by anyone else. It’s our plan.”

Dorn said two keys in the most recent education reform bills were a school and teacher accountability system and a change in the evaluation system for teachers.

“Those two things to me, got us in the arena, got us in the competition and got us in the game,” Dorn said. He said the reforms approved had been in the works for years.

“We had to show a commitment of our legislature willing to move forward on legislation that literally we had on the docket for nine years and we haven’t been able to pass,” he said.

Dorn said he believes the state’s ability to create “innovative schools” – including magnet schools and schools with nontraditional curricula – will supersede the school’s lack of charter schools, which currently are not allowed.

The federal Department of Education states that having charter schools is not the only type of “innovative school” that will be considered in Race to the Top applications.

LOCAL BACKING

Local school districts, superintendents and teachers and principals unions are being asked to sign forms that will be included on the state’s application to the federal Department of Education.

There are separate signature lines for representatives of the teachers and principals unions, the superintendent and the school board president. Those signatures are due to the state by May 17.

According to the state’s application, Thurston County districts would get at least $22 per full-time-equivalent student per year of Race to the Top funding. That would be about $1.1 million across Thurston County annually during the four-year life of the grant.

According to the federal Department of Education, local districts that sign on to Race to the Top are accountable for meeting the goals, timelines, budgets and annual targets established in the states’ applications. States must account for those timelines, budgets and goals as they collect the money over the four-year lifespan of the grant.

WIDESPREAD SUPPORT

Still, most local districts in Thurston County say they plan to sign on to the application.

“It’s not a lot of money, but a lot of things in the application, North Thurston is already doing,” district spokeswoman Courtney Schrieve said.

Paulette Johnson, principal of Rainier Elementary School, said the Rainier district board has given the go-ahead to sign on, unless administrators show the plan would require hiring extra staff members to organize it, which the district cannot afford.

“It’s hard for smaller districts, which have limited staff, to implement all the changes,” Johnson said, though she added the state’s application allows districts to partner with local Educational Service Districts for some of the requirements.

Yelm Superintendent Andy Wolf said that he supported the application, but the board still wanted to study several issues before signing off on it.

“We’re always cautious in a school setting of unfunded mandates,” he said.

Venice Buhain: 360-754-5445

vbuhain@theolympian.com

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