Buying your good opinion

It seems that Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) has decided that it isn't that little matter of 52 new tests; you just need some convincing!

A school district that is a finalist for the soon-to-be announced $1 million 2011 Broad Prize for Urban Education is embarking on a public relations effort — funded with U.S. government and Gates Foundation money — to end public opposition to its school reform program, which includes a slew of new standardized tests.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District in North Carolina is using Race to the Top money — which wasn’t intended to fund public relations efforts — and $200,000 in Gates Foundation money for the campaign.

Sure doesn't sound like what it was supposed to be for, does it? Oh, but wait:

Hamilton said in a subsequent e-mail that he understands the role of the public relations specialists to be “to provide supports to stakeholder groups re: what the content and different elements of the new teacher evaluation system is… what the components are, how it will be used…”

Right, because that's the highest and best use of $150,000 a year for the next three years.

As for the Broad Prize, yes, Worcester's superintendent will be out of town this week for that award, for which the finalists this year, along with Charlotte-Mecklenburg, are Broward County in Florida, Miami-Dade County in Florida, and Ysleta in Texas.

I can't better the closing Strauss has:

So, here’s where we are: Lots of money for standardized tests, so that teachers can be evaluated by the results, and lots of money to convince the skeptical public that that bad assessment system is really a good one.

Behold the face of modern school reform.