GraniteGrok

- all Federal bucks come with strings - and sometimes those strings last forever and bind programs such that real creativity is stifled. And remember, ALL government is politicized, and throwing more government does not mean better results.  In effect, in this case, the Federal Govt is making a play for control in return for bucks.  Our bucks 

Yup, just like the Landrieu's Louisiana Purchase of her healthcare vote for $300 mill and then Nelson's Cornhusker Kickback, these are bribes to the States with our bucks to force our school systems to become nothing more than a simple political subdivision of the Feds.

That loss of freedom was too much; so much so that Texas, under Gov. Perry realized that by accepting the money, he gets the handcuffs - without the keys:

Texas will not compete for a federal education grant that could have reaped the state as much as $700 million, Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday.

He said the $4 billion Race to the Top program required too much of the state and offered too little.

"This program is not a 'Race to the Top' but a sprint to the middle, to mediocrity," Perry said Wednesday in Houston.

...Perry and Education Commissioner Robert Scott have been critical of some elements of the program in recent months. In particular, they have criticized an effort by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop national curriculum standards for math and English.

Though the effort was initiated by other states, Perry said creating national standards and tests "smacks of a federal takeover of public schools."

"This grant application is essentially a Trojan horse designed for us to take the money and then hand over our control," Scott said Wednesday.

Many states have been going to great lengths to improve their chances at winning grant money. It is not just the money, said Michael Griffith, a senior policy analyst at the Education Commission of the States.

My State?  Not so much with the notion that independence has a value that can be priceless.  In fact, the NH Dept of Education is going all in:

CONCORD – New Hampshire will apply for a $75 million federal grant to help improve student performance and teacher quality with a focus on struggling schools.

Education Commissioner Virginia Barry said school districts are being invited – not required – to take part in this three- to four-year school improvement effort of the Obama administration known as the Race to the Top.

Five districts have already come forward with draft plans, she told key legislators during a briefing Thursday.

Barely five months on the job, Barry said she reorganized the entire department to match up with the four priorities of the Obama administration on education reform – standards and assessments, teacher/administrator effectiveness, information systems and struggling schools....

...All grants in this program do not require any state or local matching money. The federal cash will run out after three to four years however, Barry said.

...It’s likely some state education laws will have to be changed for the state to become eligible, the state educators said.

....New Hampshire lawmakers may need to affirmatively support the formation of an information technology link between pre-school and higher education with the K-12 educational system.

You bet there are strings attached.  The question is, will the local School Boards (as this is a "voluntary" program) keep a hairy eyeball on the goings on, or will they be lured into the trap of "free money"?  What are the all, local and state, be willing to trade for more money?  And will they ask - will it make a real difference?

History shows the trend already.

One thing, however, seems to stay the same:

State Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, chairman of the House Finance panel, suggested the incentive be placed on paying teachers more where the performance of students has significantly improved.

“Why not look at paying much higher compensation in school districts where student performance gets better?” Smith asked.

The current proposal under study would increase the pay for all teachers and administrators in those improving schools, Barry answered.

“This is a very different environment. You can’t create a punitive system,” Barry said.

Competition by definition, means that there will be losers - and we can't have ("punitive") that now, can we?

The money phrase? 

“I don’t think anybody really knows how this is going to work, but I think everybody knows this really has to be done,” Barry said.

Right - so let's spend all kinds of effort, time, and money, to redo the current Dept of Ed, for something that we don't know how (or if) it is going to work?

That's why engineers like me, who have to be held to account for results, quickly refuse to participate in fads.  Unlike the educational folks that seem to always be in the grips of the latest fad to come down the pick.

At our kids' expense.

And remember, those Fed dollars go away at some point but the strings don't....and they still have to be paid for (only now, with your local bucks).