Grand Rapids area educators torn about last-minute grab at federal Race to the Top funding

By Kym Reinstadler
The Grand Rapids Press
December 18, 2009, 8:27AM

E-mail Kym Reinstadler: kreinstadler@grpress.com

GRAND RAPIDS -- As the state Legislature worked Thursday considering education reforms to make the state's request for a slice of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top pie more savory, some school officials wonder whether competing for the federal funds is worth the effort.

"In tough economic times, you don't want to leave money on the table that could help students," said Ryan Kelley, Rockford's assistant superintendent for instruction. "But there are still so many details that Lansing hasn't filled in that we can't know yet what we're being asked to support."

He was among about 160 school administrators and board members and teachers' union representatives taking part in a discussion on Race to the Top funding at the Kent Intermediate School District.

While reforms that Lansing the is mulling look good, Godfrey Lee Superintendent Dave Britten believes few school officials will support them until important criteria are defined.

Michigan's Race to the Top application is coming down to the wire. That is primarily because the federal government did not finalize requirements for the program until Nov. 18.

The looming deadlines are:

• Jan. 7, when districts requesting funds must file framework agreements signed by their superintendent, school board president and teachers' union president

• Jan. 11, when applications are due to the Michigan Department of Education.

• Jan. 19, when Michigan's application is due with the U.S. Department of Education.

In April, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will select 10 states with keen reform plans to split the funding.
Michigan's share is expected to be about $400 million, with half to be divided among districts that endorsed the reforms and get Title One funding, supplemental payments to schools where at least 40 percent of students' families are at or below federal poverty guidelines.

The other half -- minus the Michigan Department of Education's administrative fee -- would be divided among 14 demonstration districts, including Grand Rapids Public Schools.

The Wyoming school board Monday decided to support applying for the money, said Tom Reeder, the district's assistant superintendent for instruction.

"But we wish we were at the point we were at back in August," he said. "It's a touchy situation asking people to sign things before anybody has the nitty, gritty details."

He figures Wyoming could possibly land $500,000 through the initiative. By comparison, Grand Rapids figures it could possibly get $25 million to $30 million.

The $4.35 billion in available funding would be tied to implementing reforms in key areas and could not be spent to plug other budget holes.

Hot buttons in the state's reform package, local educators said, include defining student growth, which is to be a measure of teacher and principal evaluations; and defining a struggling school, a designation which would trigger interventions and staff changes and interventions.

The proposed reforms currently include differentiated compensation or merit pay; opportunities for successful charter schools to expand; and alternate routes to teacher certification for science and technology instructors.
All those are typically opposed by teachers' unions.

Many are miffed accepting Race to the Top funds would require Michigan to adopt a national curriculum. The state aligned public schools' curricula to be consistent over the past decade.