Decorah Schools hope for "Race to the Top" funding

The controversial State of Iowa attempt to secure "Race to the Top" grant funding may not be so controversial here in Northeast Iowa. The funding, if secured, could provide up to $100,000 over four years for the Decorah School District. The $4 billion worth of federal grant money is aimed to encourage states to adopt policies to change schools. The money is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but only 5-10 states will be included in the initial round of funding. Decorah Community Schools Superintendent Mike Haluska said that ideally the money could be used to enhance district efforts to implement the Iowa Core Curriculum, especially in the area of assessment.

The controversies regarding the funding mostly center on the issue of teacher evaluations being tied to student performance. While most school districts in the state were eager to sign on to the State efforts to secure the federal dollars (Iowa could get from $60 - $175 million), there was unwillingness to participate by some districts, particularly large ones, that have schools that fall into the "low achieving schools" category. While the politics of assessment and educational accountability are always present, the rush by the State of Iowa to seek this grant money put the Iowa legislature on a fast track to pass school reform legislation that Governor Culver signed on January 15. The legislation impacts all school districts, not just those who elected to participate in the Race to the Top proposal.

According to Decorah Superintendent Mike Haluska, the original proposal from the Department of Education tied only ITED/ITBS scores to evaluation. "Fortunately, the Department of Education saw the focus on one assessment as too narrow and will now accept multiple measures and how they reflect on teacher performance. My feeling is that by participating in the grant, we have a chance to determine, as a local district, how we will utilize assessments as part of the evaluation process."

An informal survey of Decorah teachers suggests there are definitely concerns over external impositions and extra paperwork issues. With the State of Iowa rushing into this grant seeking and legislation so quickly, the details and outcomes remain fuzzy. However, there is an acknowledgement that the potential funding could be an asset to the work the school is already doing in regarding to development of assessment tools.

North Winneshiek Schools did not sign on to participate in the Race to the Top grant seeking. Superintendent Tim Dugger said "it was overly burdensome for our small district and would require many extra hours for $15,000 per year for 4 years. We could not justify the "strings attached" issue. We also thought we would wait to see what Obama's education plan would look like. It is clear this is a precursor to the new elementary and secondary education act. The school is definitely taking a wait and see mode on the current administration. We also feel we have enough assessments in place."

The State of Iowa rushed to apply for the first round of grant funding, which could be awarded in April.