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After Class -- Commentary: September 1, 2010
This article orginally appeared in the August, 2010 issue of Catalyst. Click
here to see that issue's table of contents.
September 1, 2010: Ohio's $400 million presentation.
The real story behind Ohio’s victory in last week’s Race to the Top sweepstakes is the come-from-behind jump the state made after its delegation delivered its in-person pitch to federal evaluators.
Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is one of the few people who have written about the phenomenon. Here’s what happened: Going into the oral presentations, Ohio was in 13th place, lodged behind Louisiana, Illinois and South Carolina. We know now that there was only enough money for 10 winners, so Ohio needed a Hail Mary to finish in the money.
They got it. The state picked up 23.4 points after its five-person team gave its presentation and vaulted over three states to finish in the winner’s circle. Most amazing, the oral presentation was not a strong point for Ohio in Round 1. In fact, the state actually lost points after it gave its pitch. The Round 2 rebound amounted to a turnaround of more than 25 points, enough to make a huge difference in a competition where winners and losers were separated by three or four points. What happened?
The national press has focused on the New Jersey screw-up in which that state’s delegation provided wrong information to evaluators. The snafu doomed a strong application, the story goes, leaving the Garden State in 11th place a few points behind Ohio. (Someone compared the gaffe to forgetting to put your name on an otherwise strong SAT exam. But if someone forgets to sign their name to the SAT, are they really ready for college?)
Petrilli and others have pointed to politics, alleging that the states that won seemed to favor Democratic governors seeking reelection while leaving supposedly more-deserving states like Louisiana and Colorado in the cold.
What’s lost in the analysis is what Ohio quietly did to prepare and position itself for success in the oral presentation. KidsOhio.org and the Ohio Grantmakers Forum threw a lot of resources into mock presentations and other preparations for Round 2. The addition of Melissa Cropper to the team now looks like a stroke of genius. The presence of Cropper, president of the Georgetown Federation of Teachers and a member of the Ohio Federation of Teachers’ executive council, drove home the state’s commitment to the Ohio Appalachian Cooperative, a novel coalition of rural districts that is garnering national attention and was mentioned by Duncan as a positive part of Ohio’s application. It also drove home the state’s commitment to viewing teacher unions as partners, rather than adversaries, in reform.
Some people have criticized Race to the Top’s emphasis on inclusion and collaboration, but I believe Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been unambiguous. He values it, and he expects applicants to value it. Another way of looking at it: In a business which is overwhelmingly unionized, it might seem like a good idea to get labor on board.
In several instances, the federal evaluators appeared to give Ohio points for aligning its education-reform plan to the evidence-based funding model Gov. Ted Strickland pushed for in the current state budget. Critics have correctly pointed out that much of the plan is based on state revenue that doesn’t exist. The irony of that criticism: the $400 million the state will receive from Race to the Top will make it a lot easier to implement the plan.
MEET THE NEW BOSS…
So, Ohio’s got its big Race to the Top grant, much of it based on the programs and personal appeal of Gov. Ted Strickland. But what happens if Strickland is no longer governor next year?
Speaking with reporters last week, Duncan said the federal grant program is bigger than any one person. But he also made it clear that states who do not follow-up on their funding plans will risk losing the money they won.
“This is bigger than any governor or any school chief,” Duncan said. “(But) if any state doesn’t implement well, we will stop funding them.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I have a mortgage to pay and a daughter about to start college." New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler on why he chose to be fired (so he could collect unemployment), rather than to resign, from his $145,000-a-year job. Schundler was forced out over a mistake in the state’s Race to the Top application.
This article orginally appeared in the August, 2010 issue of Catalyst. Click
here to see that issue's table of contents.
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Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is one of the few people who have written about the phenomenon. Here’s what happened: Going into the oral presentations, Ohio was in 13th place, lodged behind Louisiana, Illinois and South Carolina. We know now that there was only enough money for 10 winners, so Ohio needed a Hail Mary to finish in the money.
They got it. The state picked up 23.4 points after its five-person team gave its presentation and vaulted over three states to finish in the winner’s circle. Most amazing, the oral presentation was not a strong point for Ohio in Round 1. In fact, the state actually lost points after it gave its pitch. The Round 2 rebound amounted to a turnaround of more than 25 points, enough to make a huge difference in a competition where winners and losers were separated by three or four points. What happened?
The national press has focused on the New Jersey screw-up in which that state’s delegation provided wrong information to evaluators. The snafu doomed a strong application, the story goes, leaving the Garden State in 11th place a few points behind Ohio. (Someone compared the gaffe to forgetting to put your name on an otherwise strong SAT exam. But if someone forgets to sign their name to the SAT, are they really ready for college?)
Petrilli and others have pointed to politics, alleging that the states that won seemed to favor Democratic governors seeking reelection while leaving supposedly more-deserving states like Louisiana and Colorado in the cold.
What’s lost in the analysis is what Ohio quietly did to prepare and position itself for success in the oral presentation. KidsOhio.org and the Ohio Grantmakers Forum threw a lot of resources into mock presentations and other preparations for Round 2. The addition of Melissa Cropper to the team now looks like a stroke of genius. The presence of Cropper, president of the Georgetown Federation of Teachers and a member of the Ohio Federation of Teachers’ executive council, drove home the state’s commitment to the Ohio Appalachian Cooperative, a novel coalition of rural districts that is garnering national attention and was mentioned by Duncan as a positive part of Ohio’s application. It also drove home the state’s commitment to viewing teacher unions as partners, rather than adversaries, in reform.
Some people have criticized Race to the Top’s emphasis on inclusion and collaboration, but I believe Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been unambiguous. He values it, and he expects applicants to value it. Another way of looking at it: In a business which is overwhelmingly unionized, it might seem like a good idea to get labor on board.
In several instances, the federal evaluators appeared to give Ohio points for aligning its education-reform plan to the evidence-based funding model Gov. Ted Strickland pushed for in the current state budget. Critics have correctly pointed out that much of the plan is based on state revenue that doesn’t exist. The irony of that criticism: the $400 million the state will receive from Race to the Top will make it a lot easier to implement the plan.
MEET THE NEW BOSS…
So, Ohio’s got its big Race to the Top grant, much of it based on the programs and personal appeal of Gov. Ted Strickland. But what happens if Strickland is no longer governor next year?
Speaking with reporters last week, Duncan said the federal grant program is bigger than any one person. But he also made it clear that states who do not follow-up on their funding plans will risk losing the money they won.
“This is bigger than any governor or any school chief,” Duncan said. “(But) if any state doesn’t implement well, we will stop funding them.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I have a mortgage to pay and a daughter about to start college." New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler on why he chose to be fired (so he could collect unemployment), rather than to resign, from his $145,000-a-year job. Schundler was forced out over a mistake in the state’s Race to the Top application.
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