What slowed Ohio in the Race to the Top
(From The Akron Beacon Journal, April 28, 2010)
Ohio lost out in Round One of the Race to the Top awards. If knowing one’s weaknesses is half of a battle, Ohio should be halfway to winning $400 million in federal competitive grants for school reform. The reviews after Ohio’s 10th-place finish have thoroughly apprised state officials of the flaws in the first-round application and presentation.
A recent analysis of Ohio’s performance, by Education Reform Now, Democrats for Education Reform and the Education Equality Project, concluded the state may have promised ”more reform than it can deliver” and lost points in all categories for ”repeated lack of clarity and specificity.” In effect, Ohio lost credibility regarding how in practical and precise terms the reform would be achieved statewide.
Particularly troubling, Ohio fared poorest on the crucial measures in the competition dealing with teacher evaluations, equitable distribution of effective teachers and principals and tying student achievement to the teacher evaluation, compensation and promotion structure.
The scoring in Race to the Top favors states that go beyond seniority and advanced degrees to factor student growth into how teachers and principals are assessed for tenure, promoted and compensated. Another key element is a process for assigning great teachers and principals to underachieving low-income and minority schools.
Unfortunately, Ohio’s teachers unions, with a strong tradition of collective bargaining and local control, balk at such proposals — which explains in large part why just 266 of 614 school districts signed on the first time. To win in Round Two, Ohio needs a dramatic increase in support from teachers unions statewide. More, it must have the active involvement of the leaders of the state teachers unions to gain buy-in from unions in the districts.
The new state application promises all districts a minimum $100,000 ($25,000 to charter schools) as incentive to participate. Analysts indicate the most effective strategy is legislation that mandates tying student outcomes to teacher contracts — as Tennessee and other high-scoring applicants do. Will Ohio rise to meet the challenge of stiff competition?