(From The Denver Post, April 7, 2010)
By JEREMY P. MEYER
One more time.
Colorado will make a second attempt to win the federal Race to the Top grant competition.
“Our Round 2 application will make an even stronger case for how we will improve student achievement, turn around struggling schools and improve educator effectiveness,” Gov. Bill Ritter said Tuesday.
The state will be seeking $175 million — $200 million less than in the first round — to implement reforms, including creating a statewide data system and developing a more robust evaluation system.
The big question: Can Colorado write a new application that fixes some of the obvious flaws identified in the state’s first application? The state finished 14th among 16 finalists in the first round.
The state was downgraded by reviewers for having a persistent wide student achievement gap among ethnic groups and income levels.
It was criticized for not having a good enough pipeline for bringing in aspiring teachers and principals. It was roundly knocked for failing to get full buy-in from teachers unions and all of Colorado’s 178 school districts.
Half of the local teachers unions with collective bargaining agreements refused to sign on, including in the Cherry Creek, Aurora and Boulder districts.
“We are still working on our trust and collaboration issues,” said Melissa Tingley, president of the Boulder Valley Education Association.
The state will be seeking full buy-in for less money, which could be a problem, said Kelly Hupfeld, assistant dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver.
“Hitting all four reform areas in a comprehensive way is more difficult with 50 percent less money,” said Hupfeld, who helped write the state’s first-round application.
Colorado scored low on the crucial teachers and leaders section — which asked states to describe how they plan to recruit, develop, reward and retain effective educators.
Some believe a bill not yet introduced from state Sen. Michael Johnston, D-Denver, that focuses on teacher effectiveness and evaluation will answer some of those issues.
The bill seeks to rewrite state tenure laws and tie evaluations of teachers and principals to student academic growth.
“If that doesn’t pass, it’s highly unlikely the state will win Race to the Top,” said Van Schoales, executive director of Education Reform Now.
Legislating some of the changes would automatically mean districts and unions would have to buy in, Johnston said. “That is the law of the land, whether a district signs on or not.”
The Colorado Education Association is not so optimistic about Johnston’s bill.
“It is not enough of this entire application to make that big of a difference,” said CEA spokeswoman Deborah Fallin.
Nevertheless, Colorado had better get bold because reviewers are likely to be tougher this time around, said Timothy Daly, president of The New Teacher Project, which created a report about how states can improve their scores.
“You will need both very strong policies and good buy-in,” Daly said. “We think (the U.S. Department of Education) will have plenty of applications that will have both.”