Race to the Top windfall for D.C., Md. schools | Washington Examiner

Race to the Top windfall for D.C., Md. schools | Washington Examiner

...Maryland was seen as an underdog in the competition, largely because of a charter school law regarded by many advocates as among the weakest in the nation. But the state scored $250 million on the strength of its proposed reforms to teacher training and evaluation, and because the application earned some union backing.

Outgoing Montgomery County Superintendent Jerry Weast, who was one of two Maryland superintendents to withhold his support for the funding, said he was "tickled to death" that the state won the money.

"Because now they can stop saying we kept them from being a winner," Weast said.

The county did not sign on to the application due to disagreements over the best way to evaluate teachers, Weast said.

Mike Petrilli, vice president of education think tank Thomas B. Fordham Institute, cited Maryland's victory as proof that the "lofty rhetoric of the Race to the Top has turned to farce."

"[N]obody in their right mind regards [Maryland] as an incubator of serious education reform," he wrote on his organization's Flypaper blog.

Maryland State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick disagreed, saying the funds will "bolster our data systems, improve instruction, and attract and maintain a stronger educational work force."

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Race-to-the-Top-windfall-for-D_C__-Md_-schools-558527-101430834.html#ixzz0xgAJccBS