Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/3058
Education Arne Duncan announced the criteria for the “Race to the Top” (RTTT) com- petition for $4.35 billion in grants — a one-time education fund connected with the federal stim- ulus package. According to Dun- can, the purpose of the fund is to promote innovation and reform. Unfortunately, regulations in Race to the Top could undermine student progress I n August, the U.S. Depart- ment of Education, President Obama and U.S. Secretary of ernment should let states and local school districts determine how best to meet the needs of their students.” One specific tenet of the plan is the plan are a one-size-fits-all ap- proach similar to No Child Left Be- hind, which has failed students and schools for the last several years. These top-down regulations un- dermine state education laws and the role of collective bargaining. The new regulations also mandate using student test scores as a “sig- nificant factor” in evaluating and paying teachers; overhaul states’ content standards; create a new, na- tional testing system that must be implemented by spring of 2010; and limit the so-called solutions to helping lower-performing schools to reconstitution, charter school conversion and closure. CTA believes that the misguid- ed regulations of RTTT are repeat- ing the past mistakes of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) — including an overreliance on test scores as an accurate measure of student achievement and teacher effectiveness. Lawmakers should slow down their rush to apply for these funds, and allow time to thoroughly evalu- ate the long-term fiscal and policy im- plications of the entire situation. “NCLB taught us that one size does not fit all,” says CTA President David A. Sanchez. “The federal gov- that states must have no “legal, stat- utory or regulatory barriers to link- ing data about student achievement or student growth to teachers for the pur- pose of teacher and principal evaluation.” Despite the claims made by Secretary Duncan and the con- cerns of the governor, student testing data is already linked to teachers at the local level in this state. Right now, this data is available lo- cally to teachers and school admin- istrators to analyze and evaluate student progress. State law also already requires the use of student assessment re- sults in the evaluation of teachers, including the use of criterion-refer- enced tests as determined by local teachers and administrators. At recent media briefings, CTA has worked hard to educate the public on the status of current law in California and to show the harm- ful implications the proposed RTTT guidelines may have for stu- dents and members. CTA members have also been outspoken about the necessity of reviewing the guide- lines of RTTT thor- oughly before rush- ing to change the law. Last month, at a KC Walsh Oak Grove Educators Association joint Senate Educa- tion Committee hearing on RTTT in Sacramento, KC Walsh, an eighth- grade special education teacher and president of the Oak Grove Educa- tors Association, gave personal tes- 30 California Educator | september 2009 Patricia Rucker CTA Legislative Advocate timony about the existing laws on linking data and student achieve- ment, and advised against the dan- gers of rushing to change education laws and policies in order to qualify to apply for RTTT. “The current proposals threaten to undermine 10 years of work in Cali- fornia aimed at sup- porting effective teaching and learn- ing,” said Walsh. “The Race to the Top’s very narrow definition of teacher effectiveness actually imposes a far lower standard of ac- countability than our current law. In fact, the narrow lim- ited definition will force schools to narrow their curricula, neglect al- ready-proficient students, dumb down their standards, and focus solely on test results.” “California has standards that are recognized as among the most rigorous in the nation,” says Presi- dent Sanchez. “This would mean a complete overhaul of California’s content standards and creating a new testing system at a time when California’s fiscal resources are stretched beyond their limits.” Patricia Rucker, a CTA legisla- tive advocate also at the hearing, spoke about existing tests and the sense behind using multiple mea- sures to evaluate teacher effec- tiveness. “Current tests are not designed and not valid for the purpose of de- termining student or school suc- cess — much less teacher success,” said Rucker. “CTA supports assess- ment protocols that measure teach- er quality using multiple measures of evidence that have been validat- ed for the purpose of teacher evalu- ation. Evaluations of teacher effec- tiveness should include measures Continued on page 38 Concerns with Race to the Top • • • • • • Proposed regulations are more of the same one-size-fits-all approach of NCLB that has failed California students and schools for the last several years. Paying teachers based on a single test score will increase the likelihood of teaching to the test and make it harder to recruit and retain teachers. Proposed regulations would undermine California’s high academic standards, which are some of the most rigorous in the nation. The federal government should let states and local school districts determine how best to meet the needs of their students. There is no need to create another level of state bureaucracy to link student and teacher data. The grants represent one-time federal money. The governor could hold on to 50 percent of the funds to use as he sees fit. Those dollars might never reach the classroom. California can wait and apply for this one-time money in the second round of federal grants. That would give everyone time to review the proposed regulations and do what’s right and best for our students and schools. CTA photos by Len Feldman