Governor Schwarzenegger Highlights Importance of Assembly Passing Race to the Top Legislation As Quickly As Possible

I continue to be amazed at the incredible things Gov. Schwarzenegger and reformers in California are doing to drive reform and position CA to win a lot of Race to the Top money.  The contrast couldn’t be more stark with New York, where Gov. Paterson and other top political leaders are doing almost nothing to compete for Race to the Top money.  It’s pathetic and discouraging because some of the most exciting reforms in the country are happening in this state, especially in NYC thanks to the courage and leadership of Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein. 

 

This will be a critical test for Duncan – it will totally undermine what he’s trying to do if New York (assuming it continues to do little) wins big money in the first round.  Let me be clear: I want New York to get its share of the money, but not in the first round.  It would be far better for NY to get nothing in the first round and have this be a huge wake-up call, resulting in big changes so NY gets the money in the second round. 

 

To see what NY should be doing, here’s a press release from Schwarzenegger’s office:

 

Governor Schwarzenegger Highlights Importance of Assembly Passing

Race to the Top Legislation As Quickly As Possible

California’s Application for Share of $4.35 Billion in Federal Education Funding Due January 19;

Legislation Required to Ensure California is Highly Competitive

 

At Sixth Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger highlighted the importance of the California Assembly passing Race to the Top legislation as quickly as possible. Race to the Top is the $4.35 billion education funding competition designed by President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to promote bi-partisan education reform measures in states across the nation. In the first week of November, the State Senate passed SBX5 1, a bill proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger to better California’s schools and ensure California is highly competitive for up to $700 million in federal education funding. The fate of these positive bi-partisan reforms and funding now rests in the hands of the State Assembly. According to final federal guidelines, states must submit their applications by January 19, 2010, and a winning application could bring as much as $700 million to California’s schools. 

 

“The Senate has already passed the reform measures I proposed to ensure California is highly competitive in President Obama’s Race to the Top education reform and funding competition,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “Positive bi-partisan reforms that will better California’s education system and bring up to $700 million in federal funds to our schools hang in the balance.  I appreciate the Assembly’s decision to move up hearing dates – but urge them to go into session, take action on SBX51 and pass Race to the Top legislation as quickly as possible.”

 

Yesterday, a report released by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office shows California will face an additional budget gap of over $20 billion over the next year and a half – further underscoring the importance of passing the legislation necessary for California to compete aggressively for Race to the Top funds.

 

On July 24, President Obama and Secretary Duncan announced initial eligibility and competitiveness requirements for Race to the Top, the single largest pool of discretionary funding for education reform in U.S. history. Those guidelines were finalized last week.  Continuing his commitment to aggressively pursue every possible dollar from the federal economic stimulus package for California, the Governor called a special session of the legislature and announced a bipartisan legislative package to ensure California is both eligible and highly competitive for this funding. The proposed reforms were introduced as SBX5 1 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), Senator Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) and Senator Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad) and are designed to mirror the Obama administration’s Race to the Top eligibility and competitiveness requirements. The State Senate passed SBX5 1 in the first week of November.

 

Since calling the special legislative session and introducing legislation, three reform measures were passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor on October 11, making California eligible to apply for Race to the Top. Outstanding federal competitiveness guidelines requiring state legislative action and outlined in SBX5 1  include measures such as: implementing bold turnaround strategies in the bottom five percent of persistently low-performing schools, allowing parents more freedom to choose the school that best serves their children by authorizing open enrollment for students in the lowest-performing schools, reinforcing a school district’s authority and ability to reward teachers who consistently do a great job improving student achievement and repealing California’s charter school cap.