After losing a chance at being rewarded up to $700 million in federal education grants from the "Race to the Top" program yesterday, Governor Paterson is pushing state legislators to come up with a better proposal for the second bid on June 1. He says that bid would have to include lifting the cap on charter schools, which was previously opposed by teachers unions. He told the Post, "Some of my colleagues don't know what the elements of victory are, or they just deliberately blew off the chance of getting this money."
Not only did New York lose out on the money to Delaware and Tennessee, but according to the Daily News, the state finished 15th of the 16 finalists. The proposal lost 30% of its potential points because of the failure to pass charter reform, develop a statewide data system and a lingering measure that prohibits linking student performance to teacher evaluation. It also lost points for not having the full support of teachers unions, many of which don't want privately-run charter schools to compete with traditional public schools for funding. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said, "Race to the Top sets a high bar for states to adopt sweeping education reforms, and at least this time, New York State couldn't clear that bar."
Union members are blaming the charter advocates for not being willing to compromise, and putting politics before education, with United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew saying, "So many people have political agendas. The charter school association doesn't seem to be a very collaborative group." There is still $3.4 billion in federal funds up for grabs, which could help ease the blow of the $1.4 billion cut in state school aid in the latest budget proposal. Paterson said that in a time of fiscal crisis, it isn't the time to be divisive. "We need the money. I think it's one of those situations where we can't afford the luxury of letting ideological differences get in the way."
