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Several elements in today's news caught my eye.  Here are things worth watching more closely... ... A Tennessee bill that would link Temporary Aid to Needy Families to poor children's school performance. Senate Bill 132, which appears to have legs, would cut up to 30% of a family's cash assistance if a child in the family failed to meet satisfactory academic progress in school.  This approach is consistent with a policy trend towards individualizing societal problems and blaming victimless children and their families for collective failures to protect "we" the people. ... Trends in student fees . While most of the country is tracking rising tuition, how many people realize that institutions can fairly easily raise revenue while escaping scrutiny by leaning on fees? What are the links between rising student fees and efforts by colleges and universities to " pay for the party " that they think upper-class students demand? ... Year Up . According to a new ...

I'm catching up on education news and blogging after some well-spent time with our family in New York and Vermont last week.... Both successful Phase One Race to the Top (RttT) states -- Delaware and Tennessee -- plan to conduct a statewide teacher working conditions survey. Was this the secret to each state's victory? Well, not exactly, as the states of Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Ohio also built such a survey into their applications. Of course, each of those states were among the 16 Phase One semifinalists. So, maybe there is something there. Independent of RttT, however, such efforts are in line with President Obama’s recent Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act , which would require states and districts to collect and report teacher survey data on available professional support and working conditions in schools biennially. Research has demonstrated a connection between positive teaching and learn...

Thomas W. Carroll, the president of the Foundation for Education Reform and Accountability, provides a sound analysis of states' chances of winning Race to the Top funding in phase one. [Hat tip: Alexander Russo ] I would agree that Florida and Louisiana are the likeliest winners in phase one, and would be surprised if Delaware and Tennessee were not, at least, semifinalists. I'm not as keen on Colorado and Michigan , but agree that Georgia is a likely semifinalist as well. Here are some other possible phase one semifinalists from my vantage point: Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Massachusetts, North Carolina , Ohio and Rhode Island . Much will depend on how many states make the cut (Rick Hess says 10-15) and where Secretary Duncan draws the cut line. Semifinalists are expected to be announced this coming week, possibly as early as Monday. Teams from those states will be invited to make a formal presentation before a panel of reviewers in Washington, DC sometime in M...

Today is the deadline for state applications in the first round of the Race to the Top grant competition. The easy prognostication to make is that the vast majority of the 39 states (and DC) that apply will have their initial applications rejected and all will reapply in round two, due in June. Most will fail then, too. Despite the publicly released application scoring rubric , it is difficult to know exactly how the application scoring will play out, based upon who the reviewers are, whether Gates Foundation consultant funding helped certain states frame more compelling applications, stated or implicit pressures to fund only a certain number of applications (especially in round one), the importance lent to district and union buy-in from an implementation and sustainability perspective, and the strength of big-state applications versus small-state applications. To the latter point, there's ONLY $4 billion to be spread around, and the largest states could suck up as much as $700 mi...

Round-one applications are due on January 19, 2010... CALIFORNIA Bay Area schools are Racing to the Top ( Contra Costa Times ) ILLINOIS 70 percent of districts on board ( Peoria Journal Star ) IOWA RttT bills on the Legislature's agenda today ( Des Moines Register Iowa Politics blog) Seven largest school districts oppose Governor's plans ( Des Moines Register ) KENTUCKY Governor signs low-performing schools bill ( Louisville Courier-Journal ) MASSACHUSETTS Sweeping education bill passes legislature ( Boston Globe ) NEW YORK Unions opposing charter cap lift ( New York Post ) RHODE ISLAND No agreement between state, teachers' unions ( Providence Journal ) TENNESSEE Bill advances in House, headed for Senate vote ( The Tennessean ) TEXAS Editorial: Governor Perry is all 'rhetoric' ( Houston Chronicle ) Op-ed: Perry's 'smokescreen' ( The Dallas Morning News blog) UTAH Three fourths of school districts on board ( The Salt Lake Tribune ) WASHINGTO...

COLORADO RttT bill is fast-tracked ( Denver Post ) CONNECTICUT 75 school districts on board ( New Haven Register ) ILLINOIS Legislation revamps teacher evaluations; governor's signature expected ( The State Journal-Register ) INDIANA 93% of school districts join Race (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ) IOWA Senate approves RttT bill ( Des Moines Register ) KENTUCKY Governor signs low-performing schools bill ( Louisville Courier-Journal ) MASSACHUSETTS School bill ready for final vote ( Boston Globe ) MICHIGAN State teacher's union won't sign onto application ( The Detroit News ) MINNESOTA Over 250 districts, charter schools on board ( Star News ) NEBRASKA Governor: State's $122 million application includes 'Virtual High School' ( Omaha World-Herald ) OREGON 112 school districts on board ( Statesman Journal ) PENNSYLVANIA Requiring local school board and union sign-off ( Education Week Teacher Beat) Editorial: Flexibility should accompany call for innovati...

NATIONAL AFT chief vows to revise teacher-dismissal process ( Education Week ) Strong applications versus stakeholder support? (Flypaper) RttT fire drills ignore the fact that 52% 0f state application is based on PAST reform and achievement (Eduflack) ALABAMA Governor Riley links charters, Race chances ( Dothan Eagle ) FLORIDA 53 of 67 school districts on board; only 5 with union backing ( Orlando Sentinel School Zone blog) GEORGIA Governor Purdue pitches performance pay ( Atlanta Journal Constitution blog) ILLINOIS Bill to strengthen educator evaluations passes state House ( The State Journal-Register ) IOWA Legislation needed to boost state's competitiveness ( Des Moines Register ) Governor Culver presses for RttT legislation in State of the State ( Des Moines Register blog) Bill passes first legislative hurdle ( Des Moines Register blog) KENTUCKY House passes low-performing schools bill ( Louisville Courier-Journal ) LOUISIANA State board endorses application ( T...

Playing catch up following the holidays and the birth of our second child ... here are the major Race to the Top updates a week before round 1 applications are due on January 19th... NATIONAL 39 States and DC to apply in round one (U.S. Department of Education) 'Race To Top' Viewed as Template for a New ESEA ( Education Week ) 'Race To Top' Driving Policy Action Across States ( Education Week ) Two State Unions Balking at 'Race To Top' Plans ( Education Week ) CALIFORNIA Assembly passes reform bill ( Sacramento Bee ) Governor signs bill to improve state eligibility in Race; opposed by teachers' unions ( Los Angeles Times ) Governor seeks to ease teacher firings ( Los Angeles Times ) COLORADO Summary of state plan ( INDenver Times ) FLORIDA Unions: State RttT plan is 'fatally flawed' ( Orlando Sentinel ) Editorial: Unions must not walk ( Miami Herald ) Editorial: Racing to the top ( Orlando Sentinel ) ILLINOIS Editorial: State legislature t...

NATIONAL Is Race to Top an Urban Game? ( Education Week Politics K-12 Blog) Some state officials have a sneaking suspicion that Race to the Top is an urban state's game and that has made some question whether they should apply, at least in Round 1. For instance, Vermont had originally planned to apply for Round 1 of the competition, but is now going to hold off for Round 2.... The state decided to sit out the first round because of the competition's rules on charter schools. Vermont, a largely rural state, doesn't have them, but it does have some other innovative public schools, Knopf said. But, under the RttT regulations, the state can only get up to eight points for its innovative schools, out of a possible 40, since it doesn't have a charter school law. In North Dakota , state education superintendent Wayne Sanstead told Michele that it can't move quickly enough to make the Jan. 19 deadline for Round 1. Still, when the state applies in Round 2, it will develop...

NATIONAL: Who Would Have Guessed The Race Would Look Like This? (Democrats for Education Reform) 36 States to Apply in Round 1 ( Education Week Politics K-12 blog) CALIFORNIA: Campaign cash from charters driving Governor's, state's goals? ( Contra Costa Times ) Editorial: Schools race to -- where, exactly? ( Los Angeles Times ) Politics, politics (AP) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: DC gets to apply, too ( Washington Post) GEORGIA: State a 'frontrunner' ( Gainesville Times ) LOUISIANA: State bid would impact teacher evaluation, pay ( The Advocate - Baton Rouge) Educators wary of state plan ( The Advocate - Baton Rouge) MARYLAND: Editorial: Gates rejection a 'wake-up call' ( Baltimore Sun ) MASSACHUSETTS: Op-ed from Stand for Children, Black Leaders for Excellence in Education ( The Boston Globe ) MICHIGAN: Race to the trough in Michigan? (Ann Arbor.com) Editorial: Legislature's 'racing', but to where? ( Lansing State Journal ) NEVADA: Editorial:...

NATIONAL: New Teacher-Evaluation Systems Face Obstacles ( Education Week ) ALABAMA: Governor touts charter schools ( Andalusia Star-News ) CALIFORNIA: Guvinator will 'veto' Assembly-passed RttT reform bill ( San Diego Union-Tribune ) Assembly passes reform bill ( Los Angeles Times ) Editorial: 'Assembly failed California's schoolchildren' ( San Jose Mercury News ) COLORADO: Educator evaluation changes focus of bill, Race ( Denver Post ) DELAWARE: State targeting students at risk of dropping out ( The News Journal ) FLORIDA: State is a serious contender ( Eduwonk ) Op-Ed: Ed commish calls Race 'a defining moment' for Florida's schools ( Miami Herald ) School districts asked to line up for Race ( St. Petersburg Times ) IDAHO: Community meetings focus on RttT (KPVI-TV) ILLINOIS: Advance Illinois advances RttT blueprint ( Catalyst Chicago ) KENTUCKY: State ed dept wil lseek authority to remove superintendents, school board members in struggling d...

Michele McNeil at Education Week has a really important story about a new Center on Education Policy report that questions whether states have the capacity to effectively implement proposed Race to the Top reforms -- and suggests that states may be applying for RttT funding primarily because they are short on cash. ...[M]ore than half the states report that their capacity to carry out stimulus-related education changes is a “major problem." In other news: DELAWARE: Plan unveiled ILLINOIS: Gov. Quinn announces leaders of RttT effort MICHIGAN: Racing to the top or slowing to a crawl? NEW JERSEY: Not applying in round one RHODE ISLAND: New laws strengthen RttT effort TENNESSEE: Is in contention TEXAS: 'The feds are coming, the feds are coming' WISCONSIN: Special session could address Milwaukee mayoral takeover