Kentucky stumbles again in ‘Race to the Top’

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August 25, 2010

By RONNIE ELLIS CNHI The Glasgow Daily Times Wed Aug 25, 2010, 01:18 PM CDT

FRANKFORT — Kentucky again came close but lost out on Race to the Top federal grants for its public schools, its application apparently weakened by a lack of charter schools in Kentucky.

Kentucky was seeking $175 million to implement provisions of Senate Bill 1, including new learning standards, more teacher training and turn around troubled schools.

Kentucky — for the second time — was a finalist in the competition. But when the U.S. Department of Education announced nine states and the District of Columbia will share $3.4 billion, the commonwealth was not among the winners. Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. were the winners.

In March, Kentucky also finished just out of the running as Delaware and Tennessee were named winners.

Kentucky’s Education Commissioner, Dr. Terry Holliday, said Kentucky’s application was again hampered by the lack of charter schools — schools that receive state funding but which are freed from most state regulations.

State Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, said Holliday is probably correct.

“Probably what hurt us more than anything else was our lack of some appreciation of the so-called charter school question that we really haven’t had an opportunity to define,” said Carroll shortly after news broke that Kentucky wasn’t among the winners. “Really had we defined it in Kentucky in some way that had been acceptable to our current associations we probably would have found ourselves a little more acceptance at the federal level.”

When Kentucky lost out in the first round, there was an effort by Holliday and some in the legislature — primarily the Republican Senate — to authorize charter schools in Kentucky. But House Democrats objected as did the Kentucky Education Association.

Several studies of charter schools seem to produce different conclusions. A recent study indicates those which work tend to outperform public schools significantly. But it also concluded only about one in five actually do better than public schools and some perform more poorly.

Charter schools are often seen as a free-market solution to under-performing schools, usually gaining the most support from the right of the political spectrum, while opponents tend to be from the left and supporters of teachers’ unions and associations. That has generally held true in Kentucky. But President Barack Obama and his Education Secretary have championed charter schools and states received points in the grant application for their inclusion.

Gov. Steve Beshear released a statement that said he is disappointed but the state will continue to work on improving Kentucky’s schools and education of its students.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said Kentucky did not win “because of the lack of willingness by Gov. Beshear and certain members of the General Assembly to enact even voluntary charter schools.”

The most recent bill passed in the Senate would have allowed local districts to be the chartering agency for such schools, which is what Williams meant by “voluntary charter schools.”

He said the Senate would continue to try to pass charter schools and measures to evaluate teachers based on performance.

Such measures have repeatedly died in the Democratic controlled House. Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, called Kentucky’s failure to win approval a “shame” and “a lost opportunity.”

Holliday, Beshear and lawmakers wanted the $175 million the state sought from Race to the Top to implement the ambitious Senate Bill 1 reforms passed in the 2009 General Assembly. Those include a revised testing system, fewer but better defined learning standards, and more training for teachers. But the state has been beset with ongoing budget problems and deep funding cuts making it difficult to implement the reforms on schedule, according to Holliday.

The Race to the Top funds would have provided “substantial dollars in our program to improve education,” Carroll said. “It just really makes our challenge in the General Assembly even greater – a challenge we’ll have to meet in the next session and the next budget.”

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. Reach himl at rellis@cnhi.com. Follow CNHI News Service stories on Twitter at www. twitter.com/cnhifrankfort.

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