Local control is the only way to get buy-in from all the players. If the mandates of the program have merit and are supported they will be adopted and will survive.

It would be nice, though, if states were to support education with adequate funding, so that districts aren't compelled to accept unproven mandates and what amounts to financial crumbs from the feds.

Read the entire article and post a comment on azcentral.com.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/l...thetop0131.html

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'Race to the Top'' school-reform program stirs fears
Some say local control could be diminished

by Emily Gersema - Jan. 31, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic .

Leaders of Valley school boards fear the Obama administration's "Race to the Top" school-reform program will diminish local control over schools, while several teachers worry it will lead to more student testing, evaluation tools and federal requirements crafted without their input.

Such concerns were raised about a decade ago as congressional lawmakers pieced together what would become the Bush administration's education-overhaul package, the No Child Left Behind Act.

"No Child Left Behind kind of created the same set of fears," said Janice Palmer, a lobbyist for the Arizona School Boards Association who helped educators, advocates and state officials craft the state's application for a share of the $4 billion program.

"The only difference is that resources are connected to (Race to the Top)."

Race to the Top is a voluntary program, but many educators predict it will lead to new federal requirements and standards.

Arizona is among 41 states that have applied for a share of Race to the Top money.

States have pitched their own proposals for fulfilling the Obama administration's goals: turn around failing schools, link teacher evaluations to student performance, boost student achievement and increase data collection on students from kindergarten into adulthood.

Arizona proposed basing 50 percent of a teacher's job evaluation on students' annual academic progress.

The state also vowed it would create new tests for gauging students reading skills from kindergarten to second grade and collect more data on students after they leave high school.

The Obama administration will consider local support as a factor for determining which states win the grants.

Roughly 60 percent of Arizona school districts and charter-school officials who serve more than 80 percent of the state's students backed the application by signing a memorandum of understanding. Superintendents overwhelmingly supported it, but many governing-board presidents and teachers' union representatives were cautious.

Although Peoria Unified School District's five-member governing board backed the application, some members said they felt they had no choice.

Districts have been hit by state budget cuts.

"I'm not in favor of the federal government having to do much with our local school district," said Peoria board President Kathy Knecht. "However, the state isn't supporting our education system, so we're really in a rock and a hard place."

About 190 districts' union representatives - nearly half of those consulted - withheld their signatures from the memorandum in support of the state application, state records show....

"If we're going to fix the schools here in Arizona, it's going to be because of the decisions we make here in Arizona."