District Participation in Race to the Top: Binding, or Not?
Earlier this week, Alyson blogged about the tension between states and districts over Race to the Top participation. The more school districts that sign an MOU agreeing to participate in a state's reform plan, the more points a state gets in the competition. And participating school districts, in return, would enjoy a slice of their state's award.
But many districts aren't sure exactly what they're committing to do, and even wonder if it's a binding agreement.
Well, the U.S. Department of Education weighed in on this during two technical planning seminars last month, when state teams asked whether local districts can drop out from participating after a state wins a grant.