Race to the Top and the Capacity to Innovate

Louisiana is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the Department of Education's Race to the Top (RttT) fund which will provide billions of dollars in funding to states that have shown the capacity to innovate and the commitment to transform failing schools. However, it is a competitive process and every state can apply.

The states are jumping into the competition with both feet as waves of reform take shape. Last week, the Wisconsin legislature removed a prohibition against using student test data to evaluate teachers. This barrier would have made Wisconsin ineligible for RttT funding. They voted for a requirement to create a system to track students from pre-school through post-secondary education.

Our State Superintendent Paul Pastorek is a leader in the national education reform movement and we are fortunate to have his guidance in our state. Working with the legislature, Louisiana removed the caps on the number of charters our state may have. Pastorek's efforts rely on INNOVATION and are helping to turn around student achievement. Thanks to his leadership, our state will undoubtedly submit one of the strongest RttT applications.

Local superintendents are now lining up to find schools that can receive the RttT funding and begin to mae the sweeping changes needed. Another opportunity for local sup's is to approve innovative charter school applications that are on their desks right now.

Don't think that DC grant readers will overlook it if innovative charters are shelved by the same superintendents who want RttT grant funding.

The state of Florida leads the nation in online learning. Under former Governor Jeb Bush, the state encouraged virtual education to flourish at Florida Virtual Schools. The courses are free to all K-12 Florida students and available worldwide to non-Florida students on a tuition basis. This innovative school model is breaking down barriers to knowledge since it was founded in 1997.

Here in Louisiana, the road is not as smooth for online learning – but it should be. Louisiana Virtual School is only a high school focused curriculum. And it is a supplement to traditional schooling for Louisiana students only.

The outlook for virtual charter schools is even worse. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will be considering several charter applications for virtual schools in the coming months. The attacks and legal wrangling over the proposed schools is holding back our state. Baton Rouge's The Advocate reports:

A change in Louisiana law last year is forcing local school systems to pay for many new charter schools whether they like them or not.

School superintendents are starting to fight back. Last month, superintendents flooded the state with letters of complaint directed at three proposals to create strictly online charter schools that in two cases would draw students from all over Louisiana.

Louisiana is the focus of national attention in education innovation – but this is surely not showing our best side.