PORT ANGELES — School districts in Clallam and Jefferson counties would be throwing away the chance for $1.9 million in federal funds if they balk at joining the Race to the Top, a four-year federal program that focuses on improving — and linking — student and teacher performance, Gov. Gregoire said Thursday in an interview with the Peninsula Daily News.
If the state wins the grant, an additional $55 million would be available that districts statewide could compete for as they work for goals in programs funded with Race to the Top grants, Gregoire said late Thursday afternoon at the end of a daylong visit to the North Olympic Peninsula.
But after four years, grant funding “is up in the air,” Gregoire said.
After spending the day in Port Townsend, Gregoire sat down for a 20-minute interview at William R. Fairchild International Airport before departing aboard a state-owned, Beechcraft Super King Air B200.
The State Patrol told Gregoire the runway at Jefferson County Airport in Port Townsend was too short for her plane, she said.
Gregoire visited the North Olympic Peninsula to push for economic recovery and garner support for the $3.4 billion Race to the Top program.
States have won grants only with broad support from school districts, Gregoire said.
“Here, to walk away from $2 million, and then compete for $55 million more, we just can’t walk away from this opportunity to get money into the system.”
Asks for support
Gregoire is asking all of Washington’s 295 school districts to support the program and return signed state partnership agreements by May 17.
More information about Race to the Top is at http://tinyurl.com/26jc4xl and at www.waracetothetop.org.
Winners will be announced in September. Detailed work plans devised by individual districts are due 90 days later.
Districts would be required to phase in core standards in math and English language arts, increase their students’ participation in college-credit courses.
Classroom teachers and building principals would have to learn how to apply strategies to make decisions based on data-backed benchmarks and assessments.
In addition, new teacher and principal evaluation systems would begin in 2013-2014.
Teacher and principal performance would be evaluated according to criteria outlined in state law and would “include multiple measures of student growth,” according to the partnership agreements.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
