"Courage" and "commitment" aren't words historically associated with public education in Tennessee, but U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan cited those characteristics Monday when he announced that Tennessee and Delaware were the winners of multimillion-dollar grants in the first round of the nation's $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" program to help states upgrade student performance and reform struggling schools. The two states, chosen from 16 finalists, will receive $500 million and $100 million, respectively.
"We received many strong proposals from states all cross America, but two applications stood out above all others: Delaware and Tennessee, Mr. Duncan said. "Both states have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools. They have written new laws to support their policies. And they have demonstrated the courage, capacity and commitment to turn their ideas into practices that can improve the outcomes for students."
That's unaccustomed praise from the nation's top education official. Typically, Tennessee, when it was mentioned at all at the department, was chided for its ranking at or near the bottom in almost every educational measure. The "Race to the Top" grant should go a long way toward erasing that negative stereotype. More importantly, the grant should give Tennessee's students a chance to receive a better education, a goal so worthy that state legislators passed a new law in January to enhance chances that the state would win the grant.
The legislation, developed with assistance from the Tennessee Education Association, changed the way teacher evaluations would be calculated, set up a statewide school district specifically for failing schools, and removed the cap on the number of charter schools that can open each year. The changes and the promise they hold for aggressively reforming education in Tennessee clearly found favor with the panels of peer reviewers that helped select the grant winners.
Georgia and Florida reportedly finished third and fourth in the rankings. Both, no doubt, will continue to compete for the remaining $3-plus billion in "Race to the Top" grants. They won't be alone. Several other finalists, and perhaps some states that did not make the cut the first time around, likely will apply for the second phase of the grants. The application deadline is June 1.
Tennessee will be a positive example in that competition. A Department of Education spokesman said Monday that all first-round applications, peer reviewers' comments and scores are available on the department Web site and that videos of the states' presentations will be posted soon. Given its success in securing a grant, Tennessee's documentation, along with Delaware's, should get a lot of attention.
Winning a $500-million federal grant that holds the possibility of revamping public education across the state is noteworthy. It is, however, the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end. The money means nothing unless it is budgeted wisely and used effectively to meet benchmarks and to improve educational outcomes for state students.
A quick celebration of Monday's announcement is perfectly acceptable, but the detailed work necessary to reform and improve Tennessee's schools is just starting. It will take continued courage and commitment to bring the task to fruition.