NEA statement on R2T winners is just gibberish.
What the hell is NEA president Dennis Van Roekel saying in the NEA press release issued today after two states made the final cut in the stupid Race to the Top.
I’m reprinting the whole thing and if anybody can made any sense out of it, let me know.
WASHINGTON – March 29, 2010 – The U.S. Department of Education today announced the first round of winners for the Race to the Top competitive grant program. The following statement can be attributed to National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel:
“In announcing today’s winners of the Race to the Top program, the Department of Education is sending a clear message that collaboration among all stakeholders is essential if we are serious about improving our schools. With this first round selection, the department also is signaling that states must have collaborative partnerships and comprehensive plans that demonstrate high standards if their applications will be considered viable in future phases of the Race to the Top program.
“Educators are key partners in any successful effort to turn around low-performing schools. You can’t build a good plan that will yield long-lasting, sustainable results that are positive for students and their schools without having buy-in from all stakeholders. By selecting Delaware and Tennessee’s proposals—two states that submitted highly collaborative and comprehensive plans—the administration did what was right for students.
“Unfortunately, the Race to the Top competition does not address the pressing needs of students in all states. For Delaware and Tennessee, it is only a stopgap effort for the sustained funding those states need. For the other 48 states that did not receive any funding, their financial situations are still just as bleak. The competition cannot comprehensively take on the looming problems of fiscal inequity among America’s public schools or systemically improve our nation’s schools.
“America’s students need more than a program that only rewards a few throughout the country, and that is why it is vital that the administration and Congress move forward to revamp and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.”
Clearly, he is trying to say that, in announcing today’s winners of the Race to the Top program, the Department of Education is sending a clear message that collaboration among all stakeholders is essential if we are serious about improving our schools. With this first round selection, the department also is signaling that states must have collaborative partnerships and comprehensive plans that demonstrate high standards if their applications will be considered viable in future phases of the Race to the Top program.
An that, educators are key partners in any successful effort to turn around low-performing schools. You can’t build a good plan that will yield long-lasting, sustainable results that are positive for students and their schools without having buy-in from all stakeholders. By selecting Delaware and Tennessee’s proposals—two states that submitted highly collaborative and comprehensive plans—the administration did what was right for students.
Also and unfortunately, the Race to the Top competition does not address the pressing needs of students in all states. For Delaware and Tennessee, it is only a stopgap effort for the sustained funding those states need. For the other 48 states that did not receive any funding, their financial situations are still just as bleak. The competition cannot comprehensively take on the looming problems of fiscal inequity among America’s public schools or systemically improve our nation’s schools.
Finally he is saying, America’s students need more than a program that only rewards a few throughout the country, and that is why it is vital that the administration and Congress move forward to revamp and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Uh. Thanks.