Let me get this straight: the state submitted an application for Race to the Top (RTTT) funds, to be disbursed by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
Duncan's criteria did not include mayoral takeovers of public school districts.
Yet Gov. Doyle is blaming MPS and state legislators who opposed a takeover for Duncan’s decision not to award Wisconsin in the first round of Race to the Top funding.
Perhaps Doyle should consider his role in this whole mishigoss.
He’s always treated Milwaukee and MPS like crap. Yes, he added some money to MPS for math and science instruction, and that actually is helping to raise student achievement in those subjects.
But Doyle did the bare minimum to try to fix the voucher school funding flaw that penalizes city taxpayers and MPS. Bare minimum. He’s done nothing to try to fix the statewide formula for funding education, which hurts rural and urban districts alike. Seven years in office. Seven years.
Then Doyle tried to foist the mayoral takeover on a city that is very wary of experimental “reform” measures like voucher schools, NCLB, neighborhood schools, charter schools, small schoolsyou name it, it’s been tried here. Doyle did not allow the city to vote on the measure via referendum. He didn’t get support in the city, period.
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Then Doyle tried to ram it through the state Legislature. Well, the guy’s a lame duck and doesn’t have a lot of pull with some legislators anymore. His favored takeover bill was unacceptable to the legislators that call the shots right now. Doyle just couldn’t make his case. Nor could Lena Taylor. Debate on alternative bills wasn’t allowed, so the whole issue was scuttled earlier this year.
At the same time, the state’s RTTT application was being drafted by state Superintendent Tony Evers. I skimmed it and there wasn’t a whole lot there. I’ve heard through the grapevine that lots of folks were disappointed with it, but not because it didn’t include a takeover. It’s just that there weren’t a whole lot of innovative ideas in it, even though they’d been pitched to DPI.
So Doyle came out with a CYA statement when the application was finalized, blaming MPS and anti-takeover folks for its weakness. But Doyle has nobody to blame but himself.
I’m sure he’ll use the lack of funding as a reason to push once again for the takeover. Good luck.
Here’s the full release from Doyle:
Gov. Doyle: Announces Wisconsin will not receive first-round Race to the Top funding
3/4/2010
Contact: Laura Smith, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle announced today that Wisconsin will not receive first-round federal Race to the Top funding. Governor Doyle, State Superintendent Tony Evers and Milwaukee Common Council President Willie Hines made the announcement today in Milwaukee and renewed the call to move forward meaningful reform in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).
“The train is leaving the station. But because the Milwaukee School Board continues to cling to the status quo – and because the State Legislature has so far failed to make real reforms – Wisconsin is not on that train,” Governor Doyle said. “Today’s announcement should be a wake up call to many. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has made it clear. The federal government will provide significant resources to states that are serious about reform. Milwaukee needs clear, consistent, accountable leadership focused on reform.”
The U.S. Department of Education released the list of first-round Race to the Top finalists earlier today. The biggest detriment to Wisconsin’s application is that Milwaukee has not shown itself to be serious about education reform. The decision underscores the need for clear, consistent, accountable leadership in MPS.
In the past seven years, under Governor Doyle’s leadership, the state has invested more than $5.2 billion in the Milwaukee Public Schools. Today the state and federal government funds 80 percent of the MPS budget. Despite this investment, test scores show Milwaukee consistently ranks at the bottom of urban districts in the country.
Additionally, the McKinsey report demonstrates that the Milwaukee Public Schools as currently operated cannot be sustained financially. According to recent reports, class sizes in Milwaukee could be headed to 30 students in elementary schools and 50 students in high schools. Projections also indicate teacher layoffs, principal layoffs, and multiple schools losing their SAGE small class size funding.
The state submitted its first-round Race to the Top application earlier this year, focused on unique strategies to address three key areas of education based on consultations with local, regional and national education experts: 1) early childhood development; 2) addressing the achievement drop off between middle school and high school; and 3) developing good teachers and principals.
Governor Doyle has pushed for education reforms to improve student achievement and has signed new bills into law to answer President Obama’s call on education. Last fall, the state removed the prohibition from using student achievement to evaluate teachers. New data systems are being built to measure student growth and success, and evaluate the success of education programs. Wisconsin is working with other states to develop internationally agreed-upon standards to better see where students stand in relation to students from other states and other countries. New tests will also better show student achievement, an important tool for teachers to help kids improve.
Mayor Tom Barrett’s statement just popped up in my in-box, so here it is:
“Today’s decision is bad news for students and families, particularly in Milwaukee. Children in schools around the state, especially in Milwaukee, will not benefit from $254 million in additional resources; dollars that would have gone directly into the classrooms.
It’s painfully obvious that Milwaukee Public Schools are struggling. Today, MPS lost tens of millions of dollars because the district has not moved a solid educational or financial reform plan forward. The result of inaction is not only the loss of Race to the Top Funds. MPS is looking at laying off hundreds of teachers and gutting school curriculums and programs city-wide.
I maintain my call for the State Legislature to take up the MPS reform legislation. I remain firm in my commitment to fix this school district and help our children to achieve success.”
UPDATE:
Some sanity from state Rep. Tamara Grigsby and Rep. Christine Sinicki:
Grigsby, Sinicki Respond to Race to the Top Announcement
Mayoral Takeover of MPS is No Requirement for Race to the Top
Madison – Today, Representatives Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) and Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) responded to the announcement that Wisconsin is not a Phase One finalist in the federal Race to the Top grant program.
“It is incredibly unfortunate that Wisconsin was not selected as a Phase One finalist in the Race to the Top competition,” Grigsby said. “School districts throughout Wisconsin are pinching every penny in order to provide a superior education to our children and Race to the Top funds would be helpful in meeting that goal. While today’s announcement is disappointing, it in no way lends credence to the desperate argument that the legislature must approve a mayoral takeover of Milwaukee Public Schools. Governor Doyle is correct that U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has made it clear. Since the announcement of this competition, Secretary Duncan made it abundantly clear that mayoral takeover is in no way a factor when approving Race to the Top grants.”
Grigsby cited statements made by Kate Walsh, president of the nonprofit National Council on Teacher Quality, who advised several states on their Race to the Top applications. As early as November 2009, Walsh and others made it clear that Secretary Duncan might only include a handful of states in Phase One of the Race to the Top competition.
“We cannot treat this as a reason to shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre,” Sinicki added. “There are two rounds of competition for the Race to the Top program and I’m hopeful that we can review the suggestions made by Secretary Duncan and his department regarding our Phase One application, determine what’s best for Wisconsin, and move forward from there. Our children deserve the best education possible and our schools need to stay on the path of reform, but we need to rely on proven reforms that will really improve the quality of education in Wisconsin. No one supports the status quo, but mayoral takeovers just don’t work.”
Grigsby and Sinicki added that the 15 states selected as finalists were not surprising. Ten of the 15 states invited to visit Washington, D.C. received early assistance from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee all received early financial assistance from the Gates Foundation, which provided valuable professional support in the writing of the grant applications. While two-thirds of the Phase One finalists received early support from the Gates Foundation, few finalists are states that have endorsed mayoral takeover. New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. are the only finalists that have endorsed unilateral control of large urban school districts.
“It is clear that an endorsement of mayoral takeover was not the driving force behind the Race to the Top finalists announced today,” Sinicki said. “What Wisconsin needs to do most is move beyond the divisive politics of this issue and focus on working together in order to create true education reform.”
“Improving the quality of education in Milwaukee is one of my top priorities,” Grigsby added. “We need to provide our children with the best education possible, which is the surest way to guarantee they become forward-looking participants in the global economy and that they have the good jobs which everyone in our state deserves. I continue to hope that all sides can come together to work toward that end.”
UPDATE #2: A response from Congresswoman Gwen Moore:
“Race to the Top funding would have helped the schools most in need, but instead it took what should’ve been guaranteed and created winners and losers. Kids in Milwaukee shouldn’t have to compete against kids in Chicago or anywhere else to receive the best possible education.
“Education is about equality – equality of opportunity. President Lyndon Johnson saw education as a civil rights issue. And the second we make our kids compete against each other, we move away from that view. That is a shame.
“It should be clear to all of us that Wisconsin did not lose because MPS is not under mayoral control. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has repeatedly told me that mayoral control is not necessary to receive Race to the Top funding.”
