And, yet another example . . .

I’ll share another example of federal dollars influencing long held positions in states throughout our nation. In New York, Governor Paterson, is proposing legislation that would allow the use of standardized test scores in tenure decisions and that would remove the cap on the number of charter schools in the state. The following two statements from the article I believe capture the sense of urgency and driver behind these decisions.

We all recognize that this in an important issue of resources,” Mr. Smith said, adding that he was confident that the Senate would vote on legislation within the next week.

I think we’re at a time when the State Legislature can’t afford the possibility to overlook $700 million,” Mr. Williams said.

These decisions are not being discussed based on their educational merit. They have taken on this sense of urgency because the RttT application is due on January 19th and the legislation must be approved five days before this deadline. Similar discussions are taking place across the country as legislators attempt to position their states for a successful application. In this Flypaper post, O’Leary compares Ohio legislation with that in many other states that are taking bolder steps than what Ohio has done.

Once again I’ll share that it will be important for us to follow what happens in Olympia this session. I am sure that much discussion has taken place behind doors that will now begin to emerge in proposed legislation. How far will our state go to secure its share of this money, $150 - $250 million?