New York state will have a better chance of winning federal Race to the Top dollars for its schools if it embraces the seven recommendations Mayor Bloomberg made last week.
Under the final guidelines for the federal Department of Education’s $4 billion competition, New York (along with California, Texas and Florida) can apply for $350 million to $700 million in funds — money that a state in serious fiscal crisis can’t afford to lose out on.
Bloomberg’s seven-point plan addresses key areas where New York needs to change its policies to be competitive in the race:
End the cap on charter schools and provide funding for charter facilities. New York caps the number of charters at just 200 statewide, a ceiling we’ll hit within months. And the state also fails to give charters anything like the facilities aid provided for other public schools. Both issues hurt the state in Race to the Top.
On the facilities issue, one key is designing a mechanism — a state or city credit-enhancement fund is one idea — that would give charters access to long-term financing at affordable rates. Texas, which is competing against New York in Race to the Top, has already approved such a fund.
Repeal New York’s “data firewall.” This law tries to prevent school districts from using student-performance data in evaluating teachers. Bloomberg called for mandating districts to come up with ways to use that data as “one of multiple sources of input” in judging educators.
The mayor explained: “The state Legislature passed a law last year that actually tells principals: You can evaluate teachers on any criteria you want — just not on student-achievement data. That’s like saying to hospitals: You can evaluate heart surgeons on any criteria you want — just not patient-survival rates! You really can’t make this up!” Yes, indeed.
The mayor also announced that he’ll exploit a loophole in the law to immediately start using student data in pending teacher-tenure evaluations for teachers hired before July 1, 2008.
Extra pay for hard-to-fill teaching jobs: Bloomberg would use state Education Department discretionary grants to attract and retain high-performing math, science and special-needs teachers in low-income schools. This echoes a similar proposal by State Education Commissioner David Steiner, which received conceptual approval by the State Board of Regents last month. (Sadly, the mayor did not also propose individual merit pay for teachers.)
Ratify the Common Core Standards ASAP and without material alteration. The Race to the Top guidelines reward states for endorsing these national standards. Bloomberg endorsed the concept, and urged the state not to quibble over details.
End “last-in, first-out” rules. These force principals to lay off or “excess” teachers on the basis of seniority, rather than merit. This Bloomberg proposal would give New York school districts the same authority possessed already by DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
When positions need to be cut, it makes no sense to indiscriminately dismiss great teachers and uninspired teachers alike. But, make no mistake, this proposal is anathema to the teachers-union leadership, which favors a treat-everyone-the-same approach.
This issue can be negotiated locally, in contract talks — but statewide tenure reform would be a plus for Race to the Top, which encourages the hiring of high-quality teachers.
Close “rubber rooms” and limit payments to displaced teachers. These, Bloomberg explains, are “basically a suspension hall for teachers — with full pay. Believe it or not, we’re still paying teachers in New York City who have been in the rubber room for seven years — and counting.” The mayor would also cap at one year the amount of time a teacher displaced by school closures is carried on the city’s payroll through the city’s “absent teacher reserve” pool. The city shouldn’t have to keep paying a teacher that no school wants.
The longterm solution is overhauling state law on tenure, but the mayor and the teachers union could fix this problem in current contract negotiations.
Close the lowest 10 percent of schools. Bloomberg set a goal of replacing the worst 10 percent of the city’s schools — twice the national target set by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
In his speech outlining his seven reforms, Mayor Bloomberg counseled: “You make progress in government by combining common sense with political courage.” Let’s hope the state’s response to Race to the Top winds up reflecting both.
Thomas W. Carroll is Pres ident of the Foundation for Education Reform & Ac countability.