The Echo

Last I heard, Delaware still had not received its first RTTT payment.  Now, if I'm wrong and the money has quietly flowed into the state, please correct me and ignore the rest of this post :) And if I'm right, who knows where you'll end up?

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Delaware's own Governor, Jack Markell, is co-chair (with Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia) of the NGA Lead Governors on Common Core Standards Committee. Markell also chairs NGA's Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee.
So, to be fair, the Common Core Standards are cloaked in state-domain (and I have chosen my words carefully b/c I do believe there is a federal overstep being committed) and Delaware seems to have had  its share of influence in the process. (good ,if you support Jack's Blueprint for Education; bad, if you champion local control.) But, then, why is Delaware's official adoption of the standards so late in coming? School opens in just weeks and the DeDOE is only now, at its August meeting, bringing the standards to the State BOE for action.

"If you've been following the common-standards coverage in this blog, you know that Aug. 2 was a big-deal day, because states vying for Race to the Top money got maximum points if they had adopted the standards by then. When the RTT Round 2 finalists were announced, we noted that nearly all states that had won a grant (in Round 1) or were still in the running for one (Round 2) had adopted the standards.

Then it came down to one: Delaware was the only one of the RTT winners or contenders that had not yet adopted the common standards." (It won a grant in Round 1.) (Deadlines, Delaware, and the Common by Catherine Gewertz, Curriculum Matter Blog, August 10, 2010)

Veteran Education Week reporters Catherine Gewertz and Erik Robelen bring you news and analysis of issues at the core of classroom learning.

Yes, it's come down to Delaware, the last RTTT hangover when it comes to the standards. Gewertz did ferret out the reasons for our lateness (click the link above to read them in full) -- the unexpected, delayed release of the final standards product that threw off the timeline promised in our RTTT application (we cited June as the month that we would officially adopt). Furthermore, the feds and DeDOE have had a dialogue about the process developed to adopt them (it passes the litmus test.) As Gewertz blogs "So it seems that unforeseen events, good intentions, and a clear plan seem to have made the Aug. 2 date a bit more flexible for Delaware." Statisticians also believe that even without the 20 points automaticially awarded for adopting the standards, Delaware still would have won in the first round. Lucky Delaware, and a real shame for all the states that will not WIN Race funds and have aleady committed their states to fast-tracked standards.

But, it all raises a question in my mind, and without intending to, I think Gewertz gives us an answer: Why hasn't Delaware received the first of its Race to the Top winnings? Gewertz blogs:

"Spokesman Justin Hamilton said that Ed is keeping a close eye on how states are progressing with the plans they outlined in their Race to the Top applications. He noted that RTT money can only be drawn down by states in chunks, as they reach key milestones in that work.

"If we determine at any point along the way that a state is not holding to the commitment it made in its application, it could put its funding in jeopardy," he said."

Is Arne Duncan holding onto Delaware's funding until the State Board of Education formally adopts the Common Core Standards? Is he waiting for Delaware to reach that key milestone?  Time will tell...

RTTT Judges Reviewed...Kinda...

Ed. Dept.'s 'Soviet Judges' Review of Race to Top Scores


By Michele McNeil on April 22, 2010 12:41 PM
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There's been a lot of talk about how fair the scoring was in the first round of Race to the Top. Did reviewers follow the guidance and always award the correct number of points? Did a few outliers skew the results? Did some states get the luck of the draw and benefit from a bunch of easy graders, or did others draw the short end of stick and get all of the hard graders?

The Education Department, as part of its technical assistance seminar in Minneapolis yesterday for state applicants, said it did its own statistical analysis to examine these issues. Joanne Weiss, the department's Race to the Top guru, called it the "Soviet judges" review (in a nod to notorious figure-skating scoring scandals of years past). UPDATE: For a summary of their review, fast forward to slide 15 of this PowerPoint presentation the department did yesterday...

For the rest of the article, including links to supporting documents go HERE

From Delaware's Race to the Top Application:

(A)(2)(i)(e) Using the fiscal, political, and human capital resources of the State to continue after the period of funding has ended


In order to continue providing fiscal support to the reforms initiated through the Race to the Top application, the State will pursue a tiered strategy, including:


1. Continuing the overarching Statewide commitment to reform as outlined above
2. Implementing a consolidated purchasing program among LEAs for select categories of goods and services – this may include a central bidding process for instructional materials
3. Coordinating with the General Assembly to realign existing funding in the Public Education budget for reform efforts
4. Providing greater flexibility to LEAs in the administration of their state funding in order to promote autonomy, innovation and reform. This effort began in the last Delaware General Assembly, specifically with House Bill 119.

Combined, these activities will support reform and promote autonomy, efficiency and innovation in education spending throughout the State. Continued funding coordination and repurposing will involve fiscal responsibility and political will as the DDOE works with the General Assembly to ensure that State and federal education funding is distributed fairly and effectively.


Human capital resources dedicated to reform will also continue after the period of the grant. The Project Management Office and the 9 positions therein will remain in place following the period of the grant. The PMO represents a fundamental reorganization and reorientation of the DDOE to create a culture focused on performance and results. Initially these positions will be funded by Race to the Top, jump-started in the “New DDOE,” but over time the DDOE will reallocate fiscal and human resources from unnecessary current positions to these new offices on a permanent basis. The existing resources of the DDOE will be repurposed to support reform without growing the overall size of the Delaware DOE in the long term.

My biggest objection to Race to the Top, aside from the fact that the reform models are not proven, was the committment required by LEAs to continue funding for successful reforms after the seed money has been depleted. 

This section of the grant application begins to address these post-mortem requirements.  DDOE has committed to "Coordinating with the General Assembly to realign existing funding in the Public Education budget for reform efforts." Well it's about time!  (sarcasm) Shame it took the incentive of $75 Million to get everyone on the same page. 

"The Project Management Office and the 9 positions therein will remain in place following the period of the grant. "  Oh, so much for smaller class sizes, more teachers, and text books ...  We're going to use RttT to create a New DDOE  and eliminate "unnecessary current positions."  Well, let me say it -- IF WE HAVE UNNECESSARY CURRENT POSITIONS IN DDOE, THEY NEED TO BE ELIMINATED NOW!  Why are we wasting money paying for unnecessary human capital?  To ensure that the body count stays the same in Dover?  To prevent the attrition of a position to the Consolidation of State Government? Come on!  I have waivers to permit my schools to operate outside the maximum class size regulations, and DOE has unnecessary current positions.  Down-size now and send me a teacher!

The existing resources of the DDOE will be repurposed to support reform without growing the overall size of the Delaware DOE in the long term.  Oh, I get it, now!  We are going to use RttT to re-train the same people who have stood by while our public school system floundered and failed. It would be my guess, based upon the Delaware Way, that DDOE has a tank of employees who have filled their positions for decades and are within arms reach of retirement and pension.  Let's keep them in place long enough to get them to their full pension because that is certainly the smartest and best way to use our education dollars.

Since taking this unpaid job, I find myself slamming my head into the wall more and more.  What's broken in our schools didn't start in our schools.  It started in the beauracracy crafted around our schools.  RttT leads me to believe that the state thinks we need millions of dollars to undo that before we can begin reaching our failing students.  We have to stop investing in the latest reform, trend, and curriculum and get back to the basics.  Education needs to be about our children, not the adults.  And right now, the conversation really seems to be about the adults.