Limping into the Race: N.Y. sent the feds a weak school reform plan. Here's how to fix it.

Geoffrey Canada with a powerful column on what NY must do get any money in the 2^nd round of RttT (since Albany failed to lift a finger, NY is likely to get shut out of the first round):

Lucky for us, this race is not over. There is a second round of Race to the Top funding, and New York's application for that phase will be due on June 1. While that may seem like a long time from now, we do not have a minute to lose - the future of our children is at stake.

The Legislature must pass the governor's and the Board of Regents' proposals to lift the charter cap and to allow the use of student achievement data in teacher tenure decisions. And to truly be competitive with other states, we must adopt additional common-sense reforms that will help our schoolchildren.

We must change the way teachers are recruited, retained and rewarded and more equally distribute effective teachers between high- and low-poverty schools. Additionally, we can no longer be satisfied with schools that graduate only half their students. Failing schools must be turned around or closed. Period.

For decades, educators, politicians and bureaucrats have been afraid to make common-sense changes that would lead to higher performance for our children. With Race to the Top, the President is giving New York the chance to end business as usual and remedy what has become an American tragedy - the failure of most of our public schools to improve the educational outcomes of poor children.

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Limping into the Race: N.Y. sent the feds a weak school reform plan. Here's how to fix it.

by Geoffrey Canada

Wednesday, January 20th 2010, 9:53 AM

www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_limping_into_the_race.html#ixzz0dLFgVOgZ