Montgomery says maybe to Race to the Top
Montgomery County hasn't yet agreed to sign the Race to the Top application and is one of only two districts that is holding support back from the state's efforts to win as much as $250 million in federal funds later this year. (Frederick is the other.) The Montgomery County school board voted earlier this week to sign the application if state education officials allow it to continue to use what it says is a highly successful teacher evaluation system. The board wants the state to say that its evaluation system is currently in compliance with the Education Reform Act recently passed by the General Assembly and any other regulations passed in the future by the state board.
Since on the face of it the evaluation system doesn't seem to meet the standards that the state wants, we will have to watch and see if the state trades such a blanket OK for school leaders' signatures. I am guessing not.
A state education spokesman said state officials are reviewing the Montgomery County request and are continuing to discuss it with the county school leaders.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Come on, Montgomery County - and Frederick. You do some great things in education, but this is out of bounds. Our state stands to gain $250 million, and our kids stand to gain far more than that. How about if the wealthiest county in the wealthiest state stops holding us all back?
Posted by: Campbell | May 14, 2010 1:40 PM
@Sun-do you realize no one is posting? PLEASE step it up!
Posted by: wise educator | May 14, 2010 6:19 PM
Hi Liz & Readers,
Preemptive apologies: this comment has nothing to do with Montgomery County. I wasn't sure where else to discuss the all-but-ignored issue of the 2010 BTU election, so I figured I might have some luck here, on the most recent blog post.
I am writing with concern over the BTU election last week and the lack of media coverage in its wake. Furthermore, a review of the BTU website and several other internet searches yielded little more information than confirmation that Marietta English was reelected as union President. Despite the large number of uncontested candidates, I am still interested in knowing the election results for each office, as well as the final polling numbers.
Does anyone know where this information can be found and/ or why its received so little transparency and coverage thus far?
Posted by: Michael | May 17, 2010 8:45 AM
MD stands little to no chance in RTT with or without Mont. County's sign on. Someone should be reporting on the farce that this whole process has been in our state. It's almost as if we are going through the motions to say that we tried to get the money...
Posted by: Michelle | May 17, 2010 12:37 PM
Montgomery County has a system that works so I think it's only fair. The State should consider letting the county keep its teacher evaluation.
Posted by: Kim | May 17, 2010 3:39 PM
The state should honor the collective bargaining laws and allow school systems to determine what evaluation systems they use. Selling out to the federal government and the Obama education plan isn’t worth any amount of money. Education is more than a silly carnival game – jump the most hoops and win federal funding. That system is going to move the US further back not forward. Duncan’s plan is based on Chicago’s school system. Where are they? They are among the worst in the country. Wise move putting him in charge of the US Department of Education. You screwed up on a small scale let’s see how you do on the grand prize.
Posted by: John | May 23, 2010 5:58 PM