Florida among winners of `Race to the Top' education grants

BY KATHLEEN MCGRORY

KMCGRORY@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The Sunshine State has another reason to shine.

On Tuesday, Florida was named one of the winners in the national Race to the Top education reform competition.

At stake: a portion of $4.35 billion in federal money earmarked for public schools.

Florida is hoping its share will be about $700 million.

Also named as co-winners Tuesday: Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. The amounts of the grants are expected to be announced later.

The money will have a dramatic effect on South Florida's cash-strapped school districts. Miami-Dade's share will likely be about $40 million. Broward is expecting $35 million.

Race to the Top competition awards stimulus dollars to states that develop innovative plans for education reform.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged applicants to focus their proposals on improving teacher quality, using student achievement data and turning around the lowest performing schools.

In total, the federal Department of Education has set aside $4.35 billion to award in two rounds of competition.

Florida came in fourth place in the first round, but didn't win any of the money. Top honors went to Tennessee and Delaware, which took home $500 million and $100 million, respectively.

Both states had proposals with performance pay programs that were backed by local teachers' unions. Florida unions outrightly opposed their state's bid for the prize money, saying their voices had not been heard.

Sensing a need for collaboration, Gov. Charlie Crist convened a group of school administrators, teachers, union leaders, members of the business community and parents to come up with a new proposal. Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho chaired the group.

The group agreed on merit pay, but developed a plan that uses more than just standardized test scores to determine teacher pay.

Classics in Social Science - Projections

Wednesday, November 3, 2010