Race to the Top update: RFP's due in two weeks!

This morning was the monthly Urban Superintendent's meeting, which they'd expanded this month to include other administrators, school committee members, and union leadership, as they were getting an update on Race to the Top from the state.
(And may I just say that Worcester had probably one of the larger delegations there: in addition to Superintendent Boone, all the cabinet level administrators (Academics, Accountability, Finance, HR) were there, along with the head of grant writing, both quadrant managers, union rep, and two of us from School Committee. Props to Superintendent Boone for wanting lots of people all getting updated information straight from the source.)
Commissioner Chester (who did much of the presentation today) began by saying something I thought was a rather interesting take: Race to the Top "shouldn't be taking you in a direction different than what you're going in...work you have to do, anyway." That's a very different take than that of the federal government, who, to quote Secretary Duncan, regards Race to the Top and the policies it engenders as "revolutionary."
Chester then reviewed the four main areas of Race to the Top:

• Great teachers and leaders 
• Curricular and instructional resources 
• concentrated support in low-performing schools 
• college and career readiness

Chester spoke a lot about the teacher evaluation piece:"this (teacher evaluation) has been a tough lift for our teachers, and I don't want to hide from that..various levels of commitment and buy-in"
"in my mind, that's a non-negotiable"
"we're not going to specify how that happens...we don't have a lock on truth and wisdom in that regard..."

The state is setting the following goals:
by 2014: improve student outcomes but expect groups that are farthest behind to make the most progress
ELA and math MCAS accelerate chievement by 15%
HS grads completing MassCore by 85%
students completing HS by 5%
HS grads enrolling in college by 5%
reduce achievement gaps for each low performing subgroup by 25% (as measured by CPI)
reduce gaps in HS grad by 15%
reduce gaps in college enrollment rates by 15%


Final RFP posted on Sept. 20: MOU translated in specific projects for districts (some are required, some are optional)

by 10/22: RFPs due to the state
by 11/22: approved district plans due to state
"think about 5-10% (of budget spent) in year one...a planning year..expenditures really get rolling in other years"
"we'd like everyone to get a grant here...not interested in narrowing to fewer than 275"
cannot sit out this year; need a grant proposal from you to continue on
commitments for Years 2-4 can be changed later
(the slide is titled "Don't Panic!" I never thought I'd see Douglas Adams quoted by the DESE)
next two weeks are about getting this year one application completed