Race to the Top (RTTT), announced by President Barack Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on July 24, 2009, is a $4.4 billion grant program generating more conversation than its relatively small money amount might suggest. What has people talking is its competitive structure that forces cash-strapped states to make radical changes in education in order to stay in the running—changes a National Research Council report (10/7/09) warned were not backed by research. Instead of dispersing grant money on the basis of greatest need, RTTT chooses a few winners based on the degree to which the states deliver what [...]
Search Results for: Susan Ohanian
Sep
01
2010
'Race to the Top' and the Bill Gates Connection
Who gets to speak about what schools need?
Jul
01
2000
Out of School
PBS's National Desk showcases education myths
A funny thing happened on the way to the PBS National Desk episode "Education: A Public Right Gone Wrong": After inviting more than three dozen free-market enthusiasts, the production crew seems to have run out of invitations. The show's version of investigative reporting is to pit 38 conservative foundation wonks, for-profit and religious school employees, and assorted voucher recipients speaking in favor of privatizing public education against four people defending public schools. Of these four, one is the president and another the chief counsel of the National Education Association, the largest teachers union, leaving the impression that only an organization [...]
