Local school districts to enter 'Race to the Top,' compete for grants

FORT WALTON BEACH — Local school officials have taken the first step toward a program intended to align education across Florida the state and eventually the country.

The Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton school districts have each signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding expressing their interest in participating in Race to the Top.

Race to the Top is a three-year national education reform program first proposed last summer. It challenges school districts across the country to compete for more than $5.6 billion in grants by vowing to improve four aspects of the education: curriculum and assessments; data systems; teacher and leadership quality; and science, technology, engineering and math classes.

The program, for example, wants all Algebra I students, whether in Miami-Dade or Okaloosa County, to take the same semester exam.

“This money is specifically earmarked for educational reform and in our budget … that is the slimmest piece of the pie,” said Okaloosa County Superintendent of Schools Alexis Tibbetts. “This will give us money that has some flexibility to work toward these goals Okaloosa was already working toward.”

The local school districts joined 56 of Florida’s 67 districts in signing the document. They now will compete against 39 other states and the District of Columbia for a portion of the $5.6 billion.

In Florida, the proposed grant is not without controversy. When Tibbetts and the School Board signed the Memorandum of Understanding last week, the Okaloosa County Education Association teachers union (OCEA) decided — like nearly all the unions in the state — not to sign the document.

That had less to do with Race to the Top and more to do a lack of communication between union members and the Florida Department of Education about how the programs would be implemented, said OCEA President Karen Peek.

“What we felt like was happening was the state dictated a plan without any input from teachers,” Peek said.

Another reason the unions decided to not sign on at this time is that even though the Memorandum of Understandings is “non-binding” for districts, because it uses the word “negotiate,” a contractual obligation is created for the union.

If the OCEA had signed the memorandum and the school district and the union couldn’t reach an agreement on how Race to the Top would be implemented, another governing body — most likely the School Board — would have the final say.

At the last minute, five unions decided to sign on after getting last-minute promises that the contractual agreement implied by the word “negotiate” would not be implemented.

The OCEA wasn’t among them.

“I do feel like we could trust our School Board if we made a deal like that, but it was just too little, too late,” Peek said.

States turned in their grant applications to the federal Department of Education on Monday. They will find out in April whether or not they were awarded any funds.

If Florida wins a portion of the money, half of the award will be divided among the school districts that chose to participate in Race to the Top. The other half will be used at the state-level.

School districts awarded grants have until summer to submit their plans. Implementation will begin shortly after that.