"Leave the money on the table
While politicians and pseudo-educators clamor and compete for the Race to the Top funding currently working its way through the California legislature, it would behoove the SCUSD Board of Education to keep one thing in mind:
Money often doesn't fill a vacuum, it creates one.
Some California school districts will opt out of the take because the Race to the Top mandates will be difficult to implement and fund with a one-time payout.
The best option for our school district is not to enter in to this financial arrangement with the government -- in the long run, Race to the Top is a bad bargain.
''I believe that this program abandons our neighborhood schools, the children that live there and the people nearby,'' said Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch. ''Even worse, it abandons those very schools that are most in need of our help.''"