TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2009
(copyright 2009 Texas AFT)
 
Proposed Rules for Federal "Race to the Top" Incentive Grants Need Major Repairs
 
Texas AFT last week submitted formal comments offering a vigorous critique plus recommendations for change in the U.S. Secretary of Education's proposed criteria for the State Incentive Grant Fund (the "Race to the Top Fund") established under the federal economic-stimulus bill last February (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).
 
This fund is a small component (roughly 4 percent) of the education-stimulus package within the overall stimulus bill, and if Texas won a proportionate share of the incentive money it would amount to less than 1 percent of the state's education budget for this fiscal year and next. Yet through the rules for this small-scale incentive fund the U.S. Department of Education wants to induce big and in many cases ill-advised changes in state education policies.
 
Texas AFT President Linda Bridges, in a cover letter accompanying the Texas AFT comments, summed up our critique of the federal proposal:
 
"The current draft of the rules emphasizes strategies that have been found wanting and that we believe Congress did not intend to promote under the ARRA. The current draft would reinforce existing tendencies to misuse standardized state achievement test scores and unproven value-added methodologies for high-stakes employment decisions. It also would induce states to resort to measures such as school shutdowns, charter proliferation, and contracting out despite the lack of evidence for the effectiveness of such measures. Only as a last resort would states be encouraged to pursue proven, well-rounded approaches to school transformation that focus on professional development, improved instructional strategies, and community and family engagement. In all these areas, the proposed rules stand in need of major revision."
 
Our national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers, and many other state AFT affiliates also have submitted comments seeking similar major revisions in the proposed federal rules. AFT President Randi Weingarten prefaced AFT's comments with a pointed observation about the Secretary of Education's attempted end-run around the legislative process via this rulemaking procedure:
 
"If properly interpreted, implemented and administered, the Race to the Top program has the potential to spark innovation, replicate proven programs and promote promising ideas--all of which can help bolster school improvement.
 
"However, after examining the draft notice, it appears that it is the [Education Department's] intent that this program go much further, effectively creating and implementing education policy outside of a legislative process that would afford a broader, deeper and more open give-and-take among all stakeholders, including elected officials and the people they represent. We believe that bypassing the legislative process is inappropriate and not in keeping with the goals of ARRA."  
   
Upcoming hotlines will delve more deeply into this issue, review some of the key problems with the proposed rules in more detail, and consider the comments on the "Race to the Top" program filed by the Texas Education Agency.