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Flush with $550 million in new Race to the Top money, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says he intends to use most of it to design a new competition just for school districts.
鈥淵ou can do different things. You can do early childhood as a piece of that, or STEM [science, technology, engineering, and math] as a piece of that,鈥� Mr. Duncan, now starting his fourth year as education secretary, said in a wide-ranging with 澳门跑狗论坛 last week. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to commit, but the bulk of the money will go through districts. ... What we鈥檒l be asking of districts is still very much up for consideration.鈥�
Mr. Duncan also used the Jan. 17 interview to address what he sees as the strength of his department鈥檚 No Child Left Behind waiver plan, the weaknesses of congressional attempts to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and his desire to stay on as secretary through a second term if President Barack Obama is re-elected鈥攚hich would make him one of the longest-serving federal education secretaries.
For now, Mr. Duncan, who has overseen a massive infusion of one-time federal aid to education through the economic-stimulus package of 2009, now has a fresh pot of money to spend. In the fiscal year 2012 budget deal, Congress late last year awarded the Department of Education another $550 million to extend the Race to the Top鈥擬r. Obama鈥檚 signature education initiative鈥攁nd this time allowed the grant money to be awarded directly to school districts, not just to states.
It鈥檚 clear that Mr. Duncan sees the potential of investing a half-billion dollars in districts, especially in states that are, as he calls them, 鈥渓ess functional鈥� and haven鈥檛 won any other competitive grants.
鈥淚 love that we played at the state level. I love that we played in the early-childhood space,鈥� said Mr. Duncan, referring to the original $4 billion state competition from 2010, and last year鈥檚 $500 million early-learning contest. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 really, really pleased now to have a chance to participate with districts, and there鈥檚 a huge appetite there.鈥�
He said his staff is still working out the details of the new competition, including how best to reach rural, urban, and suburban districts鈥攁nd whether to encourage groups of districts to apply.
The American Association of School Administrators would prefer to see new money for flagship programs such as special education and the Title I program for disadvantaged children. But, given that Congress created the special pool of money, a district competition could be an effective 鈥渨ay to drive dollars to schools to support good ideas that help support/improve student learning,鈥� said Noelle M. Ellerson, the assistant director for policy analysis and advocacy at the AASA, in Alexandria, Va.
鈥淭he district-level [Race to the Top] will need to play out,鈥� Ms. Ellerson said. 鈥淚n talking with superintendents this week and last, this is one of the first times I have heard a more positive tone, and a level of interest, given the district focus and the ability to get the dollars to the local and regional level.鈥�
If there is going to be another competition, investing in school districts is the way to go, according to the Council of Great City Schools, based in Washington. 鈥淲e think district-wide reform is actually where the action is,鈥� said Jeff Simering, the council鈥檚 legislative director.
Waivers Pending
Secretary Duncan also faces the immediate task of overseeing an ambitious plan to grant states waivers of many of the core components of the No Child Left Behind Act, the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
The waiver plan is his answer to Congress鈥� inability, so far, to formally rewrite the ESEA. Already, 11 states have applied in the first round, with a second wave of applications due Feb. 21.
Given the alternatives of sticking with the waiver strategy or having to live with one of the proposed versions of a new ESEA offered by the House and the Senate, Mr. Duncan said the choice is clear.
鈥淣o question the waivers are a stronger plan,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope that changes. I hope at some point next month, six months from now, or next year that we get a strong bipartisan bill; unfortunately, that鈥檚 not reality.鈥�
For the first time, Mr. Duncan telegraphed how tough he plans to be on states that win a waiver. It鈥檚 the same kind of talk he engaged in before and during the original Race to the Top competition for states.
鈥淚鈥檓 not promising anyone we鈥檙e going to bat 1,000. We may grant a waiver to a state that makes its commitments in good faith but doesn鈥檛 keep them,鈥� Mr. Duncan said. 鈥淎nd just to be very clear, and just as in Race to the Top, if we need to revoke the waiver six months from now, a year from now, two years from now, because folks can鈥檛 deliver on what they said, we鈥檙e more than prepared to do that.鈥�
He sounded almost as tough in his stance toward states鈥攕uch as California鈥攖hat aren鈥檛 applying for waivers and decide to stick it out with the current NCLB requirements. Though he said it wasn鈥檛 his first choice, he said he was prepared to withhold Title I money from such states, if needed.
鈥淚t is the law, so I think we have an obligation to enforce the law,鈥� Mr. Duncan said. 鈥淚f it was warranted, ... absolutely,鈥� he said of taking the drastic step of withholding funds.
His chief of staff, Joanne Weiss, who sat in on the interview, added that any money withheld likely would be state administrative money, not the Title I dollars that go directly to benefit students.
In the Race to the Top, which has spurred states to adopt education improvement measures favored by the Obama administration, Mr. Duncan is starting to live up to his tough talk, most recently by putting Hawaii on 鈥渉igh risk鈥� grant status and threatening to take away its $75 million award. At issue is the state鈥檚 failure to reach an agreement with its teachers鈥� union that would create a new teacher-evaluation system, a key component of the state鈥檚 Race to the Top plan.
At first, it appeared Hawaii was making progress after the federal department鈥檚 threat, as the two sides reached a tentative agreement earlier this month that would have ended the stalemate. Even Mr. Duncan was encouraged, saying in the interview, 鈥淎re they in a better place than they were two weeks ago? Sure.鈥�
But in a signi铿乧ant setback, teachers late last week overwhelmingly voted own that contract, making the state鈥檚 Race to the Top future uncertain.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still a lot of hard work to go there. But are they in a better place than they were two weeks ago? Sure,鈥� Mr. Duncan said.
The secretary is also monitoring closely the status of Race to the Top implementation in New York state, which has experienced its own stumbles around teacher evaluations.
鈥淚 think the governor came up with a pretty significant . ... That makes me hopeful,鈥� said Mr. Duncan, referring to a plan Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, unveiled last week to force districts and teachers鈥� unions to reach agreement on new evaluation systems.
鈥淏ut again, I just have no interest in handicapping odds,鈥� Mr. Duncan said. 鈥淲e just look at results. And the rhetoric and the political whatever, I鈥檓 just not interested in.鈥�
Gov. Cuomo鈥檚 plan would tie districts鈥� funding increases to their adoption of new teacher-evaluation systems that align with the state鈥檚 Race to the Top plan.
鈥淭he equation is simple at the end of the day鈥攏o evaluation, no money,鈥� the governor said in his Jan. 17 budget speech, arguing that in attaching those strings to school funding increases, New York would save its $700 million Race to the Top award.
Looking Forward
On the subject of his own future, Secretary Duncan made clear that he wants to stay on for another four years if President Obama is re-elected and wants him to. Since the position was elevated to Cabinet status in 1979, only Richard W. Riley, President Bill Clinton鈥檚 education secretary, served for two full presidential terms.
Mr. Duncan, a former Chicago schools chief and the ninth U.S. education secretary, cited all the work that鈥檚 left to do, such as bringing down 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� high school dropout rates and raising the college-graduation rate.
鈥淭his work takes a long time. I said repeatedly I desperately wanted to do 10 years in Chicago. I did seven and a half, and literally this was the only job in the world that I would have left Chicago for,鈥� the secretary said. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a job in the world that I would leave this for.
鈥淵ou gotta stick with this work,鈥� he said, 鈥渟tick with it for the long, long haul. I know how far we have to go.鈥�
