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House GOP Leaders Urge Stronger School Reforms to Compete for Federal Grant

AUGUSTA – House Republican leaders today urged the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee to dramatically strengthen the Baldacci Administration’s education reform bills to help Maine qualify for federal Race to the Top funds.

“The three bills submitted last week by Commissioner Gendron do not make the grade to help us compete for a federal school reform grant,” said Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport), leader of the House Republicans. “At a time of severe financial stress, we should be going all out to become eligible for as much as $75 million. Instead, we see a half-hearted effort that will be heavily outclassed by reforms in many other states.”

The $787 billion federal economic stimulus bill passed by Congress last year included the Race to the Top Fund, a $4.35 billion education initiative designed to reform and challenge an educational status quo that is failing too many children. Grants will be awarded based on a point-system competition among the states. Maine, as a small state, could receive $20 million to $75 million if reforms are deemed far-reaching enough to make a real difference in educational outcomes.

“Without major changes in state policy, Maine has almost no chance of winning a Race to the Top grant,” said Rep. Phil Curtis (R-Madison), the assistant House Republican leader. “The minor reforms announced last week are inadequate. We’re tinkering around the edges. Forty states have already submitted comprehensive reform packages to Washington, while Maine is still at the starting gate. We should have made this a major effort, not just to compete for a grant but to improve our schools. Our costs per student are among the highest in the nation, but our test results are not impressive.”

Rep. Tardy said Massachusetts is an example of a state that has taken the Race to the Top challenge seriously. In January, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that will allow Boston school officials to shutter failing schools and convert them to new charter schools without allowing the teachers’ union to decide which schools can and cannot be closed. The changes also make it easier for school administrators to remove ineffective teachers. The Massachusetts Senate had previously passed similar legislation, and the final bill incorporated the best elements of both plans.

”The feds don’t want promises for the future, they want things in law,” said Rep. Tardy. “In Tennessee, the governor and the legislature spent the week leading up to the Race to the Top filing in special session. They came out with a new teacher evaluation system, alternative teacher certification programs, and new state authority to take swift action in chronically low-performing schools. In California, the state took down the firewall between student achievement and teacher evaluations, formerly seen as impregnable, and gave school choice rights to parents with children in underperforming schools.

“In Illinois, the legislature approved 45 new charter schools in Chicago and 15 other charter schools for the rest of the state,” he added. “You’ll notice that Maine doesn’t even allow charter schools, which automatically puts us at a disadvantage in the Race to the Top scoring formula. There are about 5,000 charter schools in 39 states, but not a single one is in Maine.

“We had hoped that the governor and the majority party would rise to the challenge and follow the lead of those states that are advancing bold and imaginative reforms,” Rep. Tardy said. “Instead, they came out with an uninspiring package.”

Rep. Tardy said it is now up to the Education Committee to create a much stronger set of bills than the three proposed by Governor Baldacci and Education Commissioner Susan Gendron. “They can build on the governor’s package and give us something that competes with the other states,” he said. “There is too much money at stake for anything less than a substantial effort to move the state forward.”