Six Marin County school districts have signed on to the state's second application for federal Race To The Top funding, five fewer than applied for the first round in January. The $4.35 billion program provides stimulus funds to districts that agree to undergo reform measures favored by the Obama administration.
Yet a central provision of the Race To The Top program - ending seniority as the primary criteria for teacher pay - remains highly controversial. Advocates of the program believe teacher raises should be based on evaluations and on how well their students perform on state tests, rather than on how long they've been teaching, as California law requires.
"Teachers would be retained in the classroom based in part on their performance on evaluations - on their effectiveness, not simply on how many years they've been employed in a particular district," said state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, an unsuccessful candidate for superintendent of public instruction in the June 8