Congress Scores Race to the Top Scoring System
So now that the first round of winners have been announced, powerful members of Congress are starting to question the scoring system for the Race to the Top program.
During a hearing of today of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., went off on the Race to the Top's 500-point scoring system. (Remember, Louisiana was afinalist and widely viewed as a front-runner, but then came in 11th.)
Some folks said that Louisiana's plan was bolder than the two winners, Delaware and Tennessee. But those states had near universal support from districts and unions. Louisiana, on the other hand, only got buy-in from 67 percent of its districts and 78 percent of their unions. (You should also remember that Louisiana lost out on an easy 15 points for not having a strong STEM component in its plan, points that all other finalists got.)
That scoring system's emphasis on district and union buy-in shouldn't have mattered so much, Landrieu told
During a hearing of today of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., went off on the Race to the Top's 500-point scoring system. (Remember, Louisiana was afinalist and widely viewed as a front-runner, but then came in 11th.)
Some folks said that Louisiana's plan was bolder than the two winners, Delaware and Tennessee. But those states had near universal support from districts and unions. Louisiana, on the other hand, only got buy-in from 67 percent of its districts and 78 percent of their unions. (You should also remember that Louisiana lost out on an easy 15 points for not having a strong STEM component in its plan, points that all other finalists got.)
That scoring system's emphasis on district and union buy-in shouldn't have mattered so much, Landrieu told