Charter group, but not L.A. Unified, finalist for Race to the Top
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
A local charter school organization is a finalist for a high-profile federal grant, but the Los Angeles Unifed School District failed to qualify in the same competition.
Green Dot Public Schools, which operates 18 charter schools, remains in the running for a “Race to the Top” grant, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday. If successful, Green Dot could receive $30 million over a four-year period.
In the application process, districts were supposed to set out a plan to “personalize education for students and provide school leaders and teachers with key tools that support them to meet students’ needs,” according to the Education Department.
But the devil for L.A. Unified was in the details. Participation by the teachers union was required and United Teachers Los Angeles would not sign on, citing concerns that Race to the Top could commit the school system to long-term spending not covered by the grant. Union leaders in L.A. and elsewhere also were concerned such a grant could commit them to the use of student test scores as part of a teacher’s evaluation.
L.A. Unified applied anyway, asserting that it needed the funds and that its application and students were deserving. The nation’s second-largest school system, with more than 1,000 schools, had sought $40 million, the maximum possible.
No union issue arose with Green Dot, whose teachers voted in May, after much debate, to accept student data in teacher evaluations.
The 61 finalists, representing more than 200 school districts across the country, were selected from 372 applications filed in November. Besides Green Dot, California’s finalists are Galt Joint Union Elementary School District, south of Sacramento; Lindsay Unified School District, east of Tulare; and New Haven Unified School District, south of Oakland. The 17 unsuccessful California applicants included the Glendale, Montebello, Riverside and Fresno unified school districts.
Each application was randomly assigned to three evaluators, with ratings averaged to determine a final score. Federal officials said they expected to select 15 to 25 winners.
ALSO:
Helicopter explodes in Corona while refueling, 1 dead
405 Freeway widening to cause delays through Sepulveda Pass
Small plane makes emergency landing on Cal State Northridge field -- Howard Blume
