TERRE HAUTE —
Citing a lack of union support, the Indiana Department of Education has decided not to apply for federal Race to the Top funds.
But the state vows to move forward in implementing some of the educational reforms outlined in its Race to the Top application, Tony Bennett, state superintendent for public instruction, said while in Terre Haute on Friday.
He said his team is looking at its Race to the Top application and “we’ll make the necessary planning to implement what can be implemented.”
Bennett said money is not the most important aspect of Race to the Top. “It’s about necessary reforms for education, and frankly, we think Indiana needs to be the leader in how to do this without money,” he said.
Some of the reforms outlined in Indiana’s Race to the Top application can be pursued without legislative action, including assigning letter grades to schools (A to F) based on student performance. The state has already begun a rule-making process on this, he said.
Also, the state has already begun teacher licensing reform, he said. “We were criticized for not going far enough,” he said.
Another reform Bennett would like to see — which would take legislative action — is a required annual evaluation of teachers, with at least 51 percent of weight based on student test scores and progress. Those evaluations could then be used to make decisions on pay, hiring, firing and even whether a teacher’s license is renewed.
Districts and school boards should be able to use those evaluations when they make personnel decisions “so that seniority is not the only factor we consider,” Bennett said.
Currently in many school districts, the teacher evaluation process is embedded in the collective bargaining agreement, he said.
On Thursday, Bennett announced the state would drop its bid for up to $250 million in Race to the Top Funds, citing a lack of support from state teacher unions.
Bennett said the state’s application wouldn’t be successful without support from the Indiana State Teachers Association. Bennett said that the union was unwilling to talk about his proposals.
ISTA president Nate Schnellenberger wrote in a membership memo that Bennett had not been collaborative in the process and that a single meeting with news reporters present that Bennett proposed wouldn’t lead to meaningful discussion. He indicated Bennett showed a lack of willingness to compromise.
On Friday, Bennett responded, “Why are we talking about compromise when it is compromise at the expense of children?”
Compromise would mean watering down the reforms, Bennett said, which means Indiana’s application wouldn’t have a chance of securing funding at the federal level.
“Again, I think the most important thing is for Hoosiers to say we must have the political will, we must have the courage to implement reform for the benefit of our children,” Bennett said.
He visited Ouabache Elementary to honor its achievement as a 2009 U.S Department of Education Blue Ribbon school.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
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Indiana decides not to apply for Race to the Top funds
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