Peninsula Daily News and news sources
All nine North Olympic Peninsula public school districts have signed on to the state’s application for $250 million in federal funding for education reform.
About 230 of the state’s 295 districts signed on to the application, said state education officials on Monday.
The program — dubbed Race to the Top — is a federal program that awards money to states that have a plan for “implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform,” according to its website http://tinyurl.com/ygr6mw9.
Districts will be awarded $22 per full-time student if the state is selected for the program.
The first round of awards was announced March 29. Washington state was not one of the recipients.
A little more than a month ago, Gov. Chris Gregoire asked the districts to join her campaign for Washington state to win a grant from the highly competitive federal Race to the Top program.
“Everybody has to be part of the game for us to qualify,” she said.
Monday was the deadline for districts to say if they would participate, but the governor and the state education department are expecting more partnership agreements to trickle in this week.
Washington’s application for Race to the Top is due in June.
Award recipients are scheduled to be announced in September. If the state receives the money, the amount that will go to individual districts is in place.
Clallam County districts
• The Port Angeles School District would receive $538,900 — spread over the course of four years — if the state gets the federal award.
“We thought we would throw our hat in the ring for now,” Superintendent Jane Pryne said earlier this month.
“We don’t have all the details ironed out yet, but if it is too onerous we can look at that later.”
The district could pull out penalty-free in a 90-day planning period if the requirements are too great, she said.
• Sequim School District spokeswoman Patsene Dashiell said the district would receive about $347,422 in the four years.
• Crescent School District Superintendent Tom Anderson said: “We’re throwing our hats in the ring, too, for a couple reasons.
“We wanted the entire state to have the opportunity for those interested and it was really important to have as many districts as possible sign on.
“We can later make a decision about whether we feel like it is the best choice for us.
“But we want to be able to make that choice and in order to do so we had to say, ‘yes’ for now.”
Crescent would receive $70,934.
• Cape Flattery Superintendent Kandy Ritter said the district likely would use the money for professional development and restructuring at the middle-school level.
“We really feel that this funding would help with some of the initiatives in recent legislative sessions that weren’t funded,” she said.
Cape Flattery would receive $169,923 in the four-year period.
• Quillayute Valley School District Superintendent Diana Reaume said the district would receive $300,978.
Jefferson County districts
• Port Townsend School District would receive $213,333 split over the four years, Superintendent Tom Opstad said.
“If you look at [the educational reform bill passed in 2009] there are a lot of similarities and a lot of these things that are going to be required for Race to the Top are included in that bill,” Opstad said.
“The Race to the Top includes some funding for that and would be enough to get us started.”
• Chimacum Superintendent Mike Blair said his district would receive $126,587 over the four-year period.
“We thought this would be an asset in tough economic times and we could use the monty to continue our work with improving student learning and professional development activities,” Blair said.
He went on to echo Pryne’s statement that the district could pull out penalty-free in a 90 planning period if the requirements are too onerous.
“Honestly, this is something that I think is a long shot anyway,” he said.
“The details are kind of sketchy as far as the requirements, but we will have those 90 days to decide and make a plan.”
• Quilcene Superintendent Dave Andersen couldn’t be reached for comment but the district had also signed on and would receive $50,525, according to documents from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
• Brinnon School Board member Jim Watson said the board had given the program a go.
“We’re going to race,” he said.
The district would receive $29,526.
Teachers, administrators
The statewide teachers union and the superintendent and principal associations have already expressed their support for Washington’s reform plan, but the governor has asked local representatives to sign a partnership agreement.
The reform plan calls for higher academic standards, more preschool education and an emphasis on science and math.
The state also has committed to adopting national academic standards now in development, and will create financial incentives to get the best teachers and principals into rural, high-poverty and low-achieving schools.
“I think it’s going very well,” said Nate Olson, spokesman for the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Each school district needs four signatures to get on the list: the district superintendent, as well as leaders of its school board, principals and teachers union.
Gregoire believes statewide involvement will give Washington state an edge in the competition.
Last week, as she spoke at the Washington Education Association’s representative assembly, she encouraged local teachers union leaders to sign on.
“We are optimistic that they’re going to keep on coming in,” said Viet Shelton, a spokesman for the governor.
“There’s no line in the sand. It’s a matter of getting as close as we can to all. That should be our goal.”
