As you might imagine, RTTT will not just go away just because Seminole County has decided not to participate. Nor will the coverage in The Orlando Sentinel, at least until the January 19 deadline the state faces to submit its grant application.

Read the article and post a comment on orlandosentinel.com.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/educat...0,2015261.story

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Most districts sign on to Race to Top
But teachers' union calls it a 'minefield'

By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel
10:40 PM EST, January 13, 2010

Fifty nine of Florida's 67 school districts will try to take part in the controversial Race to the Top reform program, though most of their local teachers unions are not committed to doing the same.

The lack of union support could hurt Florida's chances of winning a grant in the competitive, $4.35 billion federal program. But Education Commissioner Eric Smith said Wednesday he was pleased so many districts signed on to Florida's application and was optimistic more union support would follow.

By the late-night Tuesday deadline, all Central Florida districts but Seminole County's had sent in their required grant paperwork. None of them included a union signature on their memos, however.

Statewide, just five teachers' union presidents signed the grant paperwork and in one of those counties, Sarasota, union officials said there was a "high probability" they would never reach agreement on some of the required plans. ...

But critics say the state's plans are too prescriptive and demand too much, perhaps more than the grant would cover. Voicing those concerns, a divided Seminole County School Board decided not to take part, despite a plea to participate from Gov. Charlie Crist.

In an "open letter to parents" to be published today in the Tallahassee Democrat, the Florida Education Association said Florida's plan was a "minefield" that needed to be rethought.

[Here's a link to the open letter posted on orlandosentinel.com]
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_educ...n-letter-ad.pdf

The state's largest teachers union had previously called Florida's Race to the Top plan "fatally flawed" and urged local unions not to sign – advice that most heeded. In today's letter, the union said it hoped Smith and his staff would hold off on applying until the second round in June and "return to the table" for more discussions.

The education department, however, plans to send in its application by the first round Jan. 19 deadline. ...