This article talks about what Maryland will do with their $250 million they received from Obama's education program "Race to the Top." Maryland's money will be majorly used to turn around chronically lower performing schools, according to Nancy Grasmick, the State Superintendent of Schools. RTTT funds will also be used to revise Maryland's assessments and curriculum based off of "Common Core Standards" that will make sure students are prepared for a college or career, Grasmick said. Technology will also be approved with the funding, such as having data to track students' progress during their K-12 years of school.
"Race to the Top" is a program created by the Obama administration to promote increasing standards of the education system. A pool of $ 3.4 billion was granted to nine final states and Washington D.C. Some states get more money than others, but all of the states have to follow the same requirements on what to do with that money. The schools must fix curriculum, teacher evaluations, technology and the overall increasing success of the students. All of the $250 million will be distributed over the course of four years.
RTTT is a project that has the core of federalism. Both the central and state governments have present powers in RTTT. The central government gives each state the grants and has requirements for what the states can and cannot do with the money. The states, on the other hand, have the power to decide how much money goes to each school and all other decisions, as long as the states follow the central government's requirements.
Maryland is being smart on how they are spending the money. Schools with low performances on average need the money more. It would seem like their curriculum needs to change sooner than a school that is chronically doing well. Grasmick is right. It is unfortunate for students to have to go to lower performing schools because of where they live. All students need to have the same opportunities as others, no matter where they live. Improved technology could potentially mean improved instruction towards students. Having data over a student's progression is a good idea so the students and teachers could see how someone has intellectually improved, and what else that student could improve on.
State's Most Lagging Schools to get Funding
I do agree with how the system is operated (improved score gets more money), however it shouldn't be based on test scores alone. Define test scores? Yes, it is an average of topic that is talked about but it can be baised. Students learn different ways. Money should not have been a motivator for teachers improving the student test scores. They should care about their job even without the grant money. It does however give both old and younger teachers that little motive and will to increase the pupil's score. Maryland is dividing the money cautiously which is a plus in this situation. They could have just distributed the money wildly into just one year, but they did the right thing and split it up into the four years.
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