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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > June > 07
Monday, June 7, 2010
Editorial: Dayton area boosted Ohio’s bid for money
Give Dayton-area school districts credit for doing the right thing on Race to the Top and really helping the state’s case for pulling down millions in one-time federal money.
Ohio’s application for $400 million of the education stimulus grants went down in flames during the first round in March partly because just half of the state’s school districts signed on in support of the state’s application. Schools passed on participating despite the fact that every district that supported the application stood to gain a chunk of the money.
Last week’s deadline for the second round of funding saw 57 percent of districts apply. A big statewide push for greater participation, which included a guarantee of at least $100,000 for any district that signed on, made an impact.
That moderate gain statewide was heavily fueled by a big jump in participation locally. In Montgomery, Miami, Greene and Warren counties, 100 percent of school districts are on board — twice as many as signed up for round one.
Add in 36 charter schools that applied and nearly ever public school student in the region stands to benefit directly if Ohio’s application is approved this time.
Some administrators and teachers were — and still are — apprehensive about Race to the Top. Most of their concerns are based on misconceptions.
The program does not, for instance, require teachers to be evaluated based on tests alone. Test scores must be added to teacher evaluations, but district and union leaders will decide how much they matter.
Race to the Top also isn’t a federal takeover of local schools. The reforms it requires are just sensible ideas.
While it’s maddening that 111 Ohio districts were blocked from participating because their teachers’ unions wouldn’t sign on (Ohio required signatures from the superintendent, board president and union president), at least none of those holdouts came from around here.
Among the local districts that changed their minds for Round 2 was Dayton. It’s in line for $4.7 million now that the district’s teachers’ union gave its support.
But other near-losers include Northridge ($413,000), Fairborn ($413,000) and West Carrollton ($351,000), all of which were chancing that they would leave money on the table when they failed to apply in the first round.
Altogether, the four area counties are looking at $13.8 million of help if Ohio’s application is a success.
In the first round, Ohio was one of 16 finalists, but finished 10th in the application scoring. (Only Tennessee and Delaware, the top scorers, won funding the first time.) Besides boosting participation of districts, Ohio beefed up its application by more than 100 pages, adding specifics that the first-round judges said were missing.
There was no guarantee that Ohio would submit a stronger application. A look next door at Indiana shows how wrong things could have gone. The state superintendent there ripped teachers’ unions for balking, while the unions complained they were cut out of the application process.
In the end, Indiana didn’t make an application for the second round even though it was a well-regarded finalist the first time.
If Ohio’s application wins, Dayton-area districts will deserve a share of the credit, and their kids will be the real winners.
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