Supporters of the Woodlan kindergarten-through-12th-grade campus project turned in more petition packets than their opponents by Tuesday’s deadline, according to voter registration officials.Indiana’s race to the top is crowded, with 93 percent of public school districts and charter schools vying for federal stimulus money.
Tuesday was the deadline for schools to notify the Indiana Department of Education that they wanted in on the state’s application for the federal Race to the Top competition. As part of President Obama’s education stimulus package, Race to the Top will make $4.4 billion available to states with school districts willing to make serious changes to struggling schools.
"I think it’s a pretty clear indication that Indiana is a reform-ready state and that the stakeholders in this state are ready for education reform," Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said.
Of the 352 districts and charter schools in Indiana, 328 have signed on to the application, according to the Indiana Department of Education. Every district and charter school in northeast Indiana signed on, 36 total.
About 100 districts didn’t get signatures from the presidents of their respective teachers unions, something not required but that will count against Indiana when its application is scored, Bennett said. To look the most attractive, every district would have signatures from its superintendent, board president and union president.
To receive the federal money, districts must identify their lowest-performing schools and make drastic changes and tie teacher evaluations to student performance.
The federal government wants one of four options to be exercised: Local officials can close schools; turn them into charter schools; replace the principal and lay off the entire staff, bringing only half back; or get rid of longtime principals and staff members who have not improved student outcomes.
Being able to terminate non-effective teachers and linking teacher evaluations to student achievement are concepts most districts will have to negotiate in future teacher contracts, forcing them to forge a partnership with union officials.
At this point, local school officials only have to sign a resolution saying they’ll put forth a good-faith effort to draft a plan that will coincide with Race to the Top goals. But if Indiana receives the money, school districts unable to draft a plan might drop out.
"Everybody who drops out, that’s just going to increase that amount of money those participating school districts are going to get," said Cam Savage, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Education.
There are two levels for school districts to compete for the money: participating or involved.
Participating districts, such as Fort Wayne Community Schools, are drafting their own plan and will receive part of half the money the state is awarded. Involved districts might have to comply with certain aspects of the state-drafted plan and will not be an automatic recipient of the money.
The state could decide to allocate the remaining 50 percent of the money to involved districts, Savage said, but it’s likely to be tied to certain programs and professional development.
"If you’re not participating, you really eliminated your opportunity to receive at least half," Savage said.
Bennett thinks Indiana is a front-runner to receive the money based on its application, though he did not provide specific sources to support his stance.
The superintendent said Indiana has three factors required by Race to the Top – the state has no cap on the number of charter schools it can have; it will link student growth data to teacher evaluations; and it and has piloted differentiated pay proposals.
"I think every indication we have is that Indiana is one of the leading competitors," Bennett said.
Bennett wouldn’t say what Indiana’s expectations would be of individual districts if the state is not awarded the money. If Indiana’s application is rejected in the first round of awards, which will be announced in April, officials will use the feedback from the federal government and apply for the second round.
"Our No. 1 intent is to be one of those first states whose proposals are funded in April, and we’ll deal with what happens after April with what happens then," Bennett said.
