Here are the contest details:  The competitors are strapped for cash; the competitors must give up some of their prized possessions in order to qualify; and the game organizers do not announce all of the rules until the game is well underway. How fair does this sound?

This is exactly what Barack Obama and U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have done with Common Core Standards (CCS) and Race to the Top (RTTT). 

Under Obama and Duncan, the federal takeover of our schools is rapidly spreading across our nation.  

It is not too late for the “contestants” to quit playing this game.  States that have taken no federal Common Core Standards (CCS) money can drop out of the game.  Even states that have received some of their Race to the Top funds could make a plea to Congress to pass a “hold harmless” clause that would allow these states some relief.

The questions that states must answer are, “Do we really want the federal government taking control of our public schools?  How much will it cost the cash-strapped states to handle the extra expense of  CCS / RTTT?”

The U.S. Department of Education created the Race to the Top program under the Stimulus Bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA) in early 2009.  With a federal grant of $4.35 billion, Arne Duncan had a very large “carrot“ to lure the states to enter the competition. 

Have you ever been in a game where the game organizer made up the rules while the game was being played?  That is what the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) did in Race to the Top.  The Department issued numerous rules, corrections, and modifications while the competition was underway. 

Duncan waited until the state contracts were signed before he made the rest of the plan clear:  States would have to adopt the Common Core Standards (national standards) in order to qualify for Race to the Top funds.  Other “surprises” included national assessments, national curriculum, and an elaborate national tracking system to link student assessment scores to individual teachers.

The Education Department conducted the Race to the Top (RTTT) in two phases.  On 3.29.10, the Department announced that the two “winners” of Phase 1 were Delaware (#1) and Tennessee (#2). 

On 8.24.10, the Department announced the ten “winners” for Phase 2.  The winning states were ranked from #1 (first place) to #10 (tenth place).  The ten winners were:  #1 — Massachusetts, #2 — New York, #3 — Hawaii, #4 — Florida, #5 — Rhode Island, #6 — District of Columbia, #6 — Maryland, #8 — Georgia, #9 — North Carolina, #10 — Ohio.  (Note that neighbors D.C. and Maryland tied for sixth place, and there was no seventh place.)

The 12 RTTT winners and the Award amounts are shown in the Table, Race to the Top (RTTT) Awards.  The Table also lists the rank for each state in the Phase 1 competition and the Phase 2 competition.  Note that Alaska, North Dakota, Texas, and Vermont did not participate.  We commend these states for not playing the game.

We reluctantly entered the word “award” in this Table.  The Education Department uses the term “award” to apply to the grant passed to the winning states.  On the dates mentioned above, the Department notified each “winning” Governor with an “Award Letter” that specified the dollar amount of the grant. 

Of course, federal awards or grants must come from somewhere.  We taxpayers pay huge amounts of money in taxes to the federal government, and it returns a small portion back to the states and calls it an “award” or “grant.”  This is not free money!   

Race to the Top (RTTT) Awards

(Rank, Awards, Award / Student / Year)

Source:

U.S.D.O.E.

2.21.11

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase2-applications/index.html

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_034.asp?referrer=list

Race to the Top (RTTT) Awards   (Cont.)

(Rank, Awards, Award / Student / Year)

Source:

U.S.D.O.E.

2.21.11

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase1-applications/score-summary.pdf

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase2-applications/summary.pdf

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase2-applications/index.html

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_034.asp?referrer=list

Notes:

1.  The latest available USDOE enrollment numbers are “Projected Fall 2009.”

2.  Award per student per year is based on the 4-year award period.

3.  The Total Award / Student / Year of $71 is based on the total RTTT awards and total students for the 12 RTTT winning states.

For the enrollment numbers in the Table, we used the latest available figures from the USDOE (“Projected Fall 2009″).  These numbers include public elementary and secondary schools (K-12) for each state.

The “Award / Student / Year” column needs some explanation.  Let’s use Delaware as an example.  Delaware placed No. 1 in Phase 1 and received a grant for $119,122,128; the state has 125,000 students in its K-12 public schools.  [$119,122,128 divided by 125,000 students = $953 / student]  For each state, the award period is four years.  [$953 per student divided by 4 years = $238 / student / year]  Then the Award per Student per Year = $238.

The Award per Student per Year allows us to keep education spending in perspective.  Public school education in this country has always been funded primarily at the local and state levels.  The federal funding is relatively minor.

Let’s take Massachusetts as an example.  The state received $250 million in federal RTTT.  That amount may seem large, but it represents only about 1/144 (0.70 %) of Massachusetts’ overall school funding for the four-year period.  Most states have similar percentages. 

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is charged with the task of collecting and reporting state education data, much of which has to do with local, state, and federal funding sources.   The TEA recently produced  the 2009-10 Texas Education Agency Pocket Edition of Texas Public School Statistics (published in December 2010).

According to the TEA’s Pocket Edition, the per-pupil spending figure for Texas is $11,567.  This figure includes the total per-pupil spending (i.e., expenditures) including local, state, and federal dollars.

Total Revenue Per Pupil — $9,965

Total Expenditures Per Pupil — $11,567 – This figure includes local revenue (47.1%), state (42.9%), and federal revenue (10.0%).

Federal funding is nice when you are getting it, but what happens when the flow stops?  States and local governmental agencies got used to the Stimulus funds during 2009 and 2010. 

Now that the Stimulus funds are essentially depleted, states and cities are running deficits and are being forced to lay off workers.  In the same way, RTTT money is temporary, but the “pain” of Common Core Standards will last for many years to come!

Obama submitted his Fiscal Year 2012 budget on 2.14.11.  This budget provides $77.4 billion for the Department of Education.  It includes $1.4 billion for RTTT and a whopping $26.8 billion for a reformed Elementary and Secondary Act (ESEA)!  (Please note that the White House announcement uses the $1.4 billion figure for RTTT.)  The link for the Education Budget is:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/education.pdf

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