No NC winners in district Race to the Top

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.

Pushback on NC exams

State education officials and superintendents,  including Heath Morrison in CMS,  have asked U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan for a reprieve on using state exams to rate teachers.  The N.C. Board of Education is slated to take the matter up this week.

Now local teachers,  parents and advocates want to take things a step further.  The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators and Mecklenburg ACTS will ask the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board to boycott new state exams known as  "measures of student learning"  even if Duncan doesn't grant permission. The two groups are preparing a petition to present to the CMS board at its Sept. 10 meeting.

Duncan

"At a time of shrinking school budgets,  rising class sizes and plummeting teacher morale,  more tests are the last thing our schools need,"  says a news release sent out this week.

MSLs are exams given in addition to the end-of-year math,  English and science exams that are used to gauge student proficiency and rate schools.  They were created to measure teacher effectiveness in additional subjects.  Duncan has the final word because the state pinned its Race to the Top grant application and request for a waiver from No Child Left Behind to use of those tests in teacher evaluations.  Now the state wants more time to work out valid tests and make sure they're used properly to rate teachers.

According to the CMAE/MeckACTS resolution,  the MSLs given last spring were  "deeply flawed,"  "poorly designed"  and a waste of time and money.  "As a community,  now is the time to stand up for public schools and stand against statewide mandates for new,  excessive and unneeded standardized tests,"  it concludes.

In his weekly report to the school board,  Morrison said he and other superintendents want a chance to develop their own methods of estimating student growth and teacher effectiveness,  rather than being forced to administer more state exams this year.

Racing for reform

I recently posted an item raising the question of what role Charlotte-Mecklenburg school closings might play in North Carolina's quest for federal Race to the Top money. I cited a memo from Chief Accountability Officer Robert Avossa noting that the deadline for CMS's report to the state had been extended from Nov. 8, the day before the board's school closing vote, to Nov. 10, the day after.

Avossa rightly took me to task for asking the question without calling him to get an answer. The deadline was extended for the board's vote, he said this week, but it had nothing to do with impressing the feds to get  money. North Carolina's $400 million and CMS's $15 million share of that have already been locked in, he said.

So why did CMS need to report information about school closings and changes? Even though the money has been awarded, the federal government demands to know what changes are planned for the lowest-performing 5 percent of the state's schools. Districts must choose from a prescribed menu of options, which includes closing.

CMS has 15 schools on that list (see below), including four the board voted to close. Avossa and his crew needed to wait for the board to weigh in before being able to accurately report what would happen. For instance, the fate of Waddell High was up in the air until late that night.

Here's the "bottom 5 percent" list Avossa sent; he notes that the first 12 qualified based on pass rates on state exams and the final three because of graduation rates. I've added any changes to those schools that were approved Nov. 9.

1. Billingsville Elementary.
2. Bruns Avenue Elementary (becoming preK-8).
3. Druid Hills Elementary (becoming preK-8).
4. Reid Park Elementary (becoming preK-8).
5. Sedgefield Elementary.
6. Thomasboro Elementary (becoming preK-8).
7. Walter G. Byers Elementary (becoming preK-8).
8. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle.
9. Hawthorne High School.
10. Pawtuckett Elementary (closing).
11. Bishop Spaugh Middle (closing).
12. J.T. Williams Middle (closing).
13. West Charlotte High.
14. West Mecklenburg High.
15. E.E. Waddell High (closing).

School closings, the Democrats and other bits and pieces

A few thoughts as we all catch our breath after Tuesday's dramatic school board meeting:

Will the turmoil in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools hobble Charlotte's chances at getting the Democratic convention in 2012?  That question is floating, with some protesters threatening to lobby against Charlotte's selection.  On the one hand, it can't be good to have African Americans, including some well-established Democratic leaders, saying school-closing decisions smack of racism.  On the other, school-board craziness in many big cities makes Charlotte look tame.  I don't know much about the specific situations in Minneapolis, Cleveland and St. Louis, the competition.

Will school closings help CMS and North Carolina get federal Race to the Top money?  A savvy CMS observer* posed that question, and it's intriguing.  The Friday before the vote, CMS's chief accountability officer, Robert Avossa, sent board members an update on the $400 million NC is seeking, with CMS standing to pull in $15 million as its share over a four-year stretch.

As this person noted, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan generally considers it a sign of reform-minded seriousness when districts close low-performing schools.  And Avossa's report contains this interesting note: "Districts must submit a Race to the Top plan to the NC Department of Public Instruction by Nov. 8.   DPI granted our district’s request for a deadline extension to Nov. 10."

The vote to close schools was Nov. 9.

North Carolina must submit its proposal to the feds by Nov. 22, so we'll see what happens next.

*This conversation happened during the blur of Tuesday's meeting, and I can't recall whether it was a "keep my name out of this" proposition.  But the observer in question is a regular blog reader and may feel free to claim credit.

What challenges lie ahead as CMS merges current Waddell students and Harding IB students into a new version of Harding High next year? My colleague Eric Frazier is exploring that question. If you have experience with other high-school mergers (via boundary changes, for instance) or up-close knowledge of the Waddell-Harding situation and are willing to talk for a story, e-mail him at efrazier@charlotteobserver.com.


Tuesday night's live coverage of the school board meeting on CharlotteObserver.com was a record-buster, drawing 3,748 viewers and 844 reader comments. (Read the record of the live chat here.) I was too busy writing for print to take part, but we're following up with a live chat at noon tomorrow.  Join in and I'll do my best to field your questions.