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FEDERAL COMPETITION

Gendron exhorts stakeholders in 'Race to To The Top'

Up to $75 million at stake

By Matthew Stone mstone@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- Maine's application for up to $75 million in federal education reform funds will emphasize an expansion of pre-kindergarten programs, summer and school vacation interventions for struggling students, and plans to offer more online learning opportunities.

Education Commissioner Susan Gendron on Wednesday laid out the details of the state's application for Race to the Top, a national competition for billions in federal education reform funds.

"We really need to collaborate ... so we can move Maine's vision forward," Gendron said in her first formal appeal to superintendents, school board members and teachers' union representatives to sign onto the state's Race to the Top efforts.

State education officials are hoping to have superintendents, school board leaders and local union representatives from across Maine affix their signatures to the state's Race to the Top application.

Statewide buy-in from school districts and teachers' unions in Delaware and Tennessee was considered an important factor in those two states winning $100 million and $600 million, respectively, in the first round of Race to the Top.

"We need as many of you as possible," Gendron told the few dozen gathered at the Central Maine Commerce Center in Augusta. "The stronger the participation, the better."

Maine is planning to apply by June 1 for the competition's second round.

Only those districts that submit agreements to the state Department of Education -- they have to turn them in them by May 14 -- will be eligible to share in the funding if Maine wins an award. And districts that sign on have to agree to implement much of the reform work.

"Here's an opportunity to gear up and get some resources," Gendron said.

States' applications are supposed to reflect their work on introducing more rigorous academic standards; recruiting, evaluating and rewarding effective teachers and principals; building data systems to track student achievement; and turning around their lowest-performing schools.

Andrew McAuliff, the assistant superintendent in Skowhegan-based School Administrative District 54, said such priorities "aren't bad things" but that it was too soon for him to decide whether to sign onto the state effort.

"It clearly is a way for the federal government to have a comprehensive way to educate kids," McAuliff said. "Why is it dependent on competition?"

Race to the Top initiatives line up closely with the Obama administration's proposals for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which would determine what states and school districts have to do to receive any federal funding.

"When the reauthorization of ESEA includes all of this, it's not a grant anymore," said Donald Siviski, superintendent of Hallowell-based Regional School Unit 2. "It's your federal allocation."

Wednesday's meeting followed a drawn-out battle in the Legislature last week over a bill that intended to strike down a legal barrier preventing schools from using student test data in teacher evaluations -- a necessary move in allowing Maine to apply for Race to the Top.

The Maine Education Association, the state teachers' union, opposed the change and has remained critical of the state's efforts to apply. The group issued a memo late last week advising local union heads not to sign the Race to the Top agreements.

Chris Galgay, the union's president, said he was surprised only a handful of school districts were represented at Wednesday's meeting.

"We keep talking about the union signing the (agreement). I wonder how many districts have plans to sign on," he said. "They're just too busy and have too much on their plate."

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com