Florida wins $700 million in 'Race to Top' education grants

Florida won $700 million for its schools in the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top competition. A big chunk of that money is expected in South Florida.

BY KATHLEEN MCGRORY

KMCGRORY@MIAMIHERALD.COM

What will the Miami-Dade and Broward districts do with the more than $100 million expected to flow into South Florida schools over the next four years?

They'll start with new strategies to recruit, retain and reward effective teachers. They'll work to close the achievement gap and make sure more South Florida students go on to college.

On Tuesday, Florida was named one of the big winners in the federal government's second round of the Race to the Top competition, landing $700 million for its public schools. The Miami-Dade district expects its share of the winnings to exceed $60 million. Broward stands to get about $45 million.

``Florida put together a fantastic application and should put be proud of its efforts,'' U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Tuesday.

The Miami-Dade district plans to use its share of the money to boost teacher quality and to enhance its data systems.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho hopes the money will help his district to achieve a number of long-term goals, including doubling the percentage of students attending college and cutting the achievement gap in half by 2015.

``These funds are not budget relief in any way,'' Carvalho said.

The Broward district plans to spend its money on more training for teachers who can help close the learning gaps for students.

Districts throughout Florida will also put a portion of the money toward adopting the new common core standards.

Florida wasn't the only state celebrating a Race to the Top victory. Eight other states were also named co-winners on Tuesday: Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C.

Florida earned the fourth-highest score overall, bested by Massachusetts, New York and Hawaii, but Florida and New York will receive the highest amounts because of their size. ``We received many many strong proposals,'' Duncan said, noting that a total of 49 states applied over the two phases of competition.

The Race to the Top program was created to reward states for developing innovative plans for education reform. The federal Department of Education set aside $4.35 billion in stimulus funds for the effort.

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

Florida earned high marks in the first round of the competition but didn't win any money. Top honors went to Tennessee and Delaware, which took home $500 million and $100 million, respectively. Both states proposed merit pay programs that were backed by teachers' unions. Florida unions strongly opposed their state's bid for the prize money, saying their input had been ignored.

In anticipation of round two, Gov. Charlie Crist convened a group of district leaders, teachers, parents and businesses from across the state, headed by Carvalho, to retool Florida's application.

After several meetings, the group reached consensus on a number of controversial issues, including merit pay for teachers.

``We should have been chosen in the first round,'' said an ecstatic Broward Superintendent Jim Notter. ``It was a relief hearing we were chosen in the second round.''

United Teachers of Dade President Karen Aronowitz said the collaboration was key to Florida's success.

``The naysayers who said involving teachers and our teachers' unions would torpedo Florida's application were wrong,'' she said.

Under the current rules, half of each state's winnings is allocated to its education department for statewide initiatives. The other half is to be divided among local school districts, based on size.

Carvalho believes more of the money should be invested directly in local school districts.

``I'm going to Tallahassee and to Washington to argue that the investment needs to be more at the local level than in the halls of the capitol,'' he said.

Said Crist: ``By continuing to work together, Florida will put this money to the best possible use -- building a better future for the children of our state.''

Miami Herald staff writer Carli Teproff contributed to this report.

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