Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and the other 14 N.C. districts that applied for millions of dollars in federal Race to the Top money all fell short, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday.
The five winners, who got $10 million to $30 million each, include a coalition of four rural districts in Clarendon County, S.C.
Race to the Top is the Obama administration's signature program to drive education reform. North Carolina got almost $400 million in 2010, when the education department awarded grants to 12 states. That money has supported the state's new testing program and the push to use those scores to rate teacher effectiveness, leading some to argue that the money creates as many problems as benefits.
The feds have held two rounds of competitions for school districts, with the focus on personalized learning strategies. In 2012, Iredell-Statesville Schools was awarded $20 million and Guilford County got $30 million.
The 2013 round, with less money available, drew 194 applications. According to the rankings released this week, Winston Salem-Forsyth Schools actually outscored two of the five winners, coming in fourth in total points. It's not clear from anything I could find why Clarksdale, Miss., and Kentucky Springs, Ky., edged them out.
CMS ranked 83rd, right behind Wake County (read the ratings and commentary for all applications, or go straight to the CMS report). Cabarrus County fared the best of the Charlotte-area applicants, at No. 16. That was good enough to make the finalist list but didn't bring money.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
No NC winners in district Race to the Top
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6 comments:
Reading the headline that CMS tops the nation ii test scores is like saying you're the tallest midget. The numbers are still very disconcerting for the future of this country.
...and what on earth did we do before there were "numbers" to analyze...?
All foolishness and political grandstanding. Shut down the U.S. Dept of Education and send the money back to the states where it belongs. Stop micromanaging teachers and get rid of the bloated bureaucracies in state and county offices. Fire bad teachers - pay the rest well and treat them with respect. Stop assuming they are incompetent without the implementation of this week's pet program!
CMS does not do enough to address inappropriate behavior in the classroom. WWW. Worldstarhiphop. "Disrespectful Student drops a female teacher at HUHS"
This is a waste of people's time and all of our money. Just think, there's a huge department in DC working on this....and for what? Let the states and LEA's do their jobs. Geez.
And don't get me started on behavior at school. Who's going to stand up (school administrators?) and say this is enough? Students can't learn in some of these school environments, at least the ones who are awake.
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