January 2, 2010

 

Jennifer Smith Richards

               

The Columbus Dispatch

 

The Columbus school district and its teachers union are among a few groups statewide that have agreed to adopt reforms needed to secure millions in federal grant money for Ohio schools.

 

The federal Education Department has said the more than $4 billion in Race to the Top grants will go to states that adopt policies such as measuring teachers’ performance based on their students’ academic growth, evaluating teachers more often and using merit pay to reward effective teachers. Those policies have been controversial in many states.

 

President Barack Obama’s administration is pushing for such politically difficult reforms, saying the changes will improve the quality of education, especially for poor, urban children.

 

Ohio would be eligible for up to $400 million in Race to the Top grants. Columbus is the largest district in the state and has the largest local union, so education experts say Columbus’ willingness to collaborate could signal others to do the same.

 

“We’ve been doing a lot of these things already,” said Columbus Education Association President Rhonda Johnson.

 

Columbus teachers already work with administrators to help low-achieving students, and the district has financial-reward programs for successful teachers, she said.

 

Ohio has 613 school districts. So far, 59 have returned memoranda agreeing to the reforms to the Ohio Department of Education, a department spokeswoman said. Many more are expected to arrive next week when school is in session again.

 

Other Franklin County districts and unions say the timeline for evaluating the agreement has been tight and comes during schools’ winter break. The state Education Department sent forms for the reform agreements two weeks ago. State officials want them signed by the superintendent, school-board president and teachers-union president and returned by Friday.

 

The state needs districts to sign the memoranda agreeing to the reforms because money is being awarded, in part, on how many districts decide to participate.

 

Applications to the U.S. Department of Education are due by Jan. 19. The fact that Columbus’ union is on board with sweeping reform ideas is significant, said Mark Real, who heads the Columbus-based nonprofit education-research group called KidsOhio.  Real has been working with consultants who are helping Ohio prepare its Race to the Top application.

 

Several Franklin County districts, including Bexley, Grandview Heights and South-Western, say they are scrutinizing the agreements now. Some, including Canal Winchester, Groveport Madison and Reynoldsburg, say they have a tentative agreement and are awaiting a union sign-off when school resumes.

 

“It’s in the middle of the (winter) break. I’ve got a new board of education that has to be sworn in to have authority,” said Bexley Superintendent Michael Johnson. “I don’t know what to do. Everybody wants questions answered.”

 

Bexley’s new school board won’t be sworn in until after the state’s deadline.

 

Some districts and unions in Ohio and other states have said there are too many strings attached to the Race to the Top money. Still, most of the complaints here have been about the rush and not the reform plan.

 

“The spirit of the reforms looks wonderful. If Ohio gets this, it’s going to enable us to do a lot toward reforming public education. But it’s a ‘hurry up and rush,’ ” said Diane Conley, chief of academic affairs for Westerville schools.

 

Urban school districts stand to gain the most money. If Ohio wins, much of the money will be divvied up largely on whether districts enroll large numbers of economically disadvantaged students.

 

jsmithrichards @dispatch.com