Race to the Top or Race to Nowhere? Part I
March 25, 2010
After doing some preliminary research on Race to the Top (RTTT) we found that we were not the only ones who find this contest to be cause for concern. By doing a simple Google search we found these articles of interest:
Race to the Top or Race to the bottom?
Why Race to the Top won’t solve the problem
Race to the Top: Where is the finish line?
Run Harder or Quit Race to the Top?
A Race to the Top or Race to Judgement
This federal contest is one that should have all LCSD residents very concerned. Our students are being used to win funds for the State Department of Education of which little if any will be returned to us at the District level. A board member stated that fact to two of us after a recent BoE meeting and Assemblyman Al Stirpe stated at a recent town hall meeting that he wouldn’t expect the District to see more than $100,000 to $200,000. We are making sweeping changes that the US Department of Education is asking for yet how will we be able to sustain these programs and their layers of required reporting? We are already sacrificing our elementary students into buildings with close to 100% capacity so grades 9-12 can expand into four buildings; the main building, LHX, WRE and MRE.
We have been told that initially the FOCUS/Non-traditional academy would consist of some 80 to 120 students. In practical terms, we have displaced 350 elementary students from one of the top performing elementary schools in the District because of decreased enrollment yet we can repurpose an entire building for less than 100 students?
