Advocates press for greater emphasis on funding equity in Race to the Top Regs

On July 23, the U.S. Department of Education released draft guidelines for Race to the Top grants, a portion of federal stimulus funds to be awarded to states through a competitive application process. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan expect the $4.35 billion in discretionary grants ---- the largest amount ever distributed by the Department on a competitive grant basis ---- to serve as a catalyst for education innovation across the country.

According to the proposed guidelines, the DOE would evaluate applications based on several criteria, including states’ commitments to developing a common set of standards and high quality data systems, turning around struggling schools, supporting charter schools, and improving teacher quality. The proposed guidelines indicate that states that prohibit the use of student scores in assessing teacher performance will not be eligible to receive these grants; among the selection criteria (but not an absolute bar to eligibility) is the extent to which a state has a cap on the number of charter schools or otherwise restrict student enrollment in charter schools.

Many states, reeling from the recession, have begun to tailor policy to the administration’s goals in order to become more competitive applicants. Seven states recently lifted caps on charter schools, and others, including Massachusetts, will address the issue in the coming year. In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is urging legislators to not only repeal the state’s law against linking student achievement data to teacher evaluations, but also eliminate caps on charter schools and establish merit pay systems. Some states, however, have taken issue with the requirements. North Carolina officials, for example, lament the guidelines’ focus on charter schools.

A number of Advocates for educational equity have called on the DOE to require states to fund low performing schools at adequate levels. The draft regulations currently contain, among the proposed application requirements, only one provision regarding funding. It would require states to provide data showing whether and to what extent the proportion of the state budget devoted to education for FY 2009 increased, decreased or remained the same compared to FY 2008. Presumably, those states that maintained or increased educational funding during the last fiscal year would receive some favorable consideration in the review process for doing so.

The Campaign for Educational Equity, a policy-center also based at Teachers College, Columbia University, called upon the Department to also require this data for the FY 2010, which is now available in most states. In addition, the Campaign argued that the conditions for reform for turning around struggling schools should specifically include the range of resources that state courts have delineated as being essential in education adequacy cases as well as additional resources to provide necessary comprehensive services to students from poverty backgrounds. Others have argued that the Department should include stiffer funding maintenance provisions. The Education Law Center, Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Alliance for Quality Education and Georgia School Funding Association criticized the proposal for relying on proportional rather than absolute revenue figures in assessing commitment to funding, which leaves the door open for states to cut the total budget from year-to-year and remain competitive applicants. These groups urged the DOE to replace the present regulation with a requirement that states must increase total and per pupil state and local revenues to meet the average levels of all states, or maintain current levels if the state is above average. They also recommended that states allocate higher levels of funding to school districts with higher levels of poverty.

The DOE received over 1,000 comments on the draft guidelines during the comment period that ended on August 28. After considering these comments, the Department will issue final regulations in October. Phase 1 applications will be due in the late fall and grants will be distributed in early 2010. Phase 2 applications will be due in spring of next year and the DOE will award funds that September.