Ed. Dept. Seeks to Correct Race to the Top Record
This editorial in yesterday's Los Angeles Times appears to be causing the U.S. Department of Education some Race to the Top trouble.
And this may be an instance in which the department hasn't really earned it.
The Times writes of a "deal" (presumably brokered between U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) to let the state apply for round two of Race to the Top even though only a few districts would take part. And this deal supposedly allowed the education secretary to save face by ensuring the largest state applied for his signature education reform competition.
The writer states that the deal represents a change of heart by the department after originally snubbing a similar proposal offered months ago by L.A. Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines, who wanted his district to apply for the competition by itself, as a lone district.
The piece further states: "It never made sense for the Education Department to insist that only entire states could apply for Race to the Top..." It made perfect sense! The law, as passed by Congress, makes it a state competition. That
