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Local schools get Race to Top funds
(by Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor - September 01, 2010)
All four of Madison County’s public school districts are slated to receive federal Race to the Top funding.
London City Schools will receive $238,799. Jonathan Alder Local Schools will get $106,230. Madison-Plains Local Schools and Jefferson Local Schools each will receive $100,000.
Nearly 60 percent of Ohio’s public and charter schools participated in the United States Department of Education's Race to the Top program, according to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). The amount of funding each school received was determined by a formula required by the federal government and is tied to Title I funding. Ohio will receive $400 million in Race to the Top funds during the next four years.
According to ODE, Race to the Top is an approximately $4 billion national, competitive education grant program with goals of improving: college and career ready academic standards; data systems for tracking progress and improving instruction; teacher and principal effectiveness; and performance among the lowest performing schools.
Local school leaders welcome the funding, but say they know little at this time about when they will get it and how they can use it. Julie Daubenmire of ODE said ODE plans to meet with the United States Department of Education this fall to go over Race to the Top spending guidelines. She added local schools must prepare a document within 90 days on how they plan to spend the funds.
“This funding comes at a good time for us. We’re really scrambling to make ends meet,” said London Superintendent Steve Allen. “The important thing is how can we use it. When we know, we will make every dollar work for the district... There are always strings attached. I don’t want to sound negative, but unless they really solve the long-term school funding problem, this is really a one-time shot in the arm.”
Jonathan Alder Superintendent Doug Carpenter said that when his district applied for the funding, he knew part of the requirements would be off-site and on-site training for teachers and the use of student performance data for teacher assessments.
“Those are some of the generic things required as part of receiving money from the federal government. The next step will be getting the specific criteria from the state,” he said.
Some district leaders have scheduled webinars with state representatives to learn more. Madison-Plains Superintendent Boone Hall is among them.
“It’s certainly to improve accountability,” Hall said of the funds’ purpose. When commenting on receiving the grant, he added, “We’ll take it.”
Jefferson Local Superintendent William Mullett said the Race to the Top application process was frustrating.
“We were very rushed to hit the deadline and the whole thing seemed thrown together,” he said. “There is a lack of clarity relative to a major sticking point - using data in the classrooms to evaluate teachers... I hope there will be some clarity forthcoming.”
Mullett added, “I’m not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth. We need the funds, we're glad we’re receiving them, and we will put them to good use once we find out precisely how we can go about doing that.”
—with reporting from Rick Palsgrove
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