Frederick M. Hess's Blog
In This Race, A Lot of Second Place
by Frederick M. Hess • Mar 31, 2010 at 9:20 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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It's good that the Department of Education held the line in naming just two round one Race to the Top (RTT) winners. After the dismal decision to name 16 finalists, this was an important corrective (even if I've doubts about the signal sent by the two winners that emerged). Perhaps going from 16 to two was the plan all along, or perhaps public reaction usefully stiffened ED's spine. Either way, the outcome was better than I had feared.
I've conflicting reactions to the round one result. Not only do I think RTT is a good idea in principle, but I think Duncan deserves credit for drawing the line at two winners. While I've harped on what I deem an unfortunate emphasis on stakeholder buy-in in Monday's result, I don't want to shortchange Delaware or Tennessee. Both states put forward substantial plans, boast noteworthy reform agents (shout-out to Delaware's Paul Herdman, in particular), and deserve recognition for their efforts. Two other finalists that boasted similar levels of buy-in didn't make it across the finish line. And I sympathize with the Department's notion that widespread buy-in is key to driving systemic change (I don't buy it, but I get it). Moreover, I don't wish to accidentally fuel the notion that the Department's push for reform-minded buy-in is tantamount, at least in the minds of states and union locals, to the ability of recalcitrant unions to torpedo state RTT plans.
At the same time, I fear that there's a temptation to imagine that stakeholder buy-in and sweet, painless, and comforting consensus around vague principles and jargon-laden promises is synonymous with real change. I fear that journalists, ed schools, local business leaders, and professional associations are only too eager to
