Stimulus round I

I have press coverage coming from all directions on the stimulus money for education. I've tried to weed through it here to give you what's worth reading more of.

The Washington Post interviewed Arne Duncan on the $100 billion for education. He speaks here again about watching how the states use the first round of funding before he decides on how to distribute the second round:
But we're going to keep billions of dollars here to really watch and monitor how states do in terms of implementing these reforms.
Duncan also speaks in the interview of extending the school year, merit pay, and NCLB.

Colorado, for one, has already started working on getting some of the second round "Race to the Top" money, as their legislature has filed a bill that includes "proposals to tie funding for at-risk students to classroom performance, study creating a charter boarding school for disadvantaged students and requiring freshmen fill out a College in Colorado form, to give them an academic and financial road map for reaching college."

The Detroit Free Press has a report on the conference call that Duncan had with governors yesterday:

“We really are going to hold states accountable for investing in children and using these scarce dollars to dramatically improve student improvement,” Duncan said.

The money released today is designed to help states avoid cuts to education spending, and to help schools avoid laying off staff.
It's a bit unclear on how we're going to do both of those things at once, and quickly. There's also some more in this article regarding the "Race to the Top" funds, for which states will have to apply.

The New York Times gives some coverage today to Duncan's announcement of the release of the funds, including the pledges that have to be made by governors in order to get funds. To wit:

The guidelines released today promote comprehensive education reform by receiving commitments from states that they will collect, publish, analyze and act on basic information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps, and interventions in turning around underperforming schools. Specifically, the law requires states to show:

• Improvements in teacher effectiveness and commitments that all schools have highly qualified teachers;
• Progress toward college and career-ready standards and rigorous assessments that will improve both teaching and learning;
• Improvements in achievement in low-performing schools, by providing intensive support and effective interventions in those schools.
• That they can gather information to improve student learning, teacher performance, and college and career-readiness through enhanced data systems that track progress.

(ugh, c'mon, guys, surely the Department of Education can manage some parallel structure?)

And here's something that will be turning raising blood pressure locally:The DoE will release funds upon "receiving commitments from states that they will collect, publish, analyze and act on basic information regarding the quality of classroom teachers, annual student improvements, college readiness, the effectiveness of state standards and assessments, progress on removing charter caps, and interventions in turning around underperforming schools." (Emphasis added)

And where will the money be going? Education Week points out that some of the funds can be used for school construction, a hotly debated item. It also points out the restrictions around the rules: "The metrics for the four assurances proposed in Mr. Duncan’s letter will be subject to the public rulemaking process, but the Education Department will have the final say over their shape."

As for round two?

As a final request to states to use their funding wisely, Mr. Duncan repeatedly said in his conference call with reporters that any states playing “shell games” with stimulus spending would disqualify themselves for future funding. He singled out the $4.35 billion in discretionary money he has dubbed the “Race to the Top” fund.

Mr. Duncan said the first competition for that money, which is meant to scale up innovative programs in states and districts, will be held in June. Applicants will have to show demonstrable progress in all four of the assurance areas to receive the incentive funding.

“This is not a menu; this is not, ‘I’ll take two out of three,’ ” the secretary said. “These are states that are pushing the envelope in all four areas.”