I spoke about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Race to the Top (RTT) to a group of school board members in California earlier this week. They had many interesting questions and comments (e.g., on implementing special education requirements, addressing the needs of migrant students, developing a great curriculum)—the kinds of real-world, nuts-and-bolts issues that sometimes get lost inside the beltway.
Two things in particular stood out. First, I asked if any of them knew that the Department of Education had released a document earlier this year explaining how ARRA’s funding for Title I, the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act could be spent in reform-oriented ways. Only one of about 80 individuals knew that such a document existed. Similarly, almost none of them had heard of the department’s What Works Clearinghouse. Goes to show just how far removed, literally and figuratively, Washington is from most of the country.
Second, after a long discussion about getting competitive for the RTT, I got question after question about the state’s teachers union. The board members didn’t know how it was possible to advance legislation related to charter schooling, merit pay, and other reforms when the union and the legislators who listen to them are adamantly opposed.
I, unfortunately, had little by way of advice.
It’s instructive to go to the official RTT information in the Federal Register and do a search for “collective bargaining agreement” or “union contact.” Neither appears in the thousands of words. Not even once. You would think they are completely unrelated to education reform.
The word “union” only shows up four times, and three of them are related to areas where the state application should include a union representative’s signature showing support for a portion of the plan.
Leaving the session, I put myself in the shoes of a school board member who wants his state to win RTT funds. What if my union-supporting legislators won’t change our laws, my district’s current union contracts don’t allow for the reforms in the RTT application, and my state’s union leaders won’t sign on to the state’s reform-oriented proposal? Do we lose access to several hundred million dollars because of the union’s opposition? I’d probably look to the Department of Education for guidance.