California Faces Hurdles in Race to the Top

Like other cash-starved states, California is having trouble navigating the policy obstacle course involved in qualifying and competing for $4.35 billion in federal government education stimulus funding known as Race to the Top grants.

The biggest obstacle: Resistance from teachers unions opposing reforms necessary to qualify for the funds. With up to $700 million in grant money at stake for the education system in a state already on fiscal life-support, California legislators are trying to craft compromises that satisfy the Obama administration’s demands for changing the status quo without angering key political constituencies, in particular the state’s powerful teachers unions.

Union Stymies Reform

The California Teachers Union (CTU) led the fight to defeat SB X5 1, a bill to remove the cap on the state’s charter schools and implement other reforms including a “parental trigger” which would require a failing school be taken over if more than half the parents or legal guardians of its students signed a petition.

The union supported AB X5 8, a bill sponsored by state Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), which would require regular audits of charter schools and add stifling restrictions that hinder these schools’ innovation, flexibility, and the chances of having their charters renewed.

“The bill was 95 percent charter-school regulation and only 5 percent Race to the Top compliance, said Kirk Clark, executive director of the California Business for Education Excellence Foundation.

Waving a Carrot

Without the hundreds of millions of potential dollars in play, the debate would have ended with union-backed politicians caving in before reforms could be passed. Instead, the funding carrot dangling before financially desperate California has forced both sides to try again to reach agreement.

After Brownley pulled her bill just before the Senate considered it, another bill, SB X5 4, was approved 21-7 by the California Senate on December 17. It keeps many of the innovative reforms from the first attempt but eliminates the clause lifting the cap on charter schools. Both Senate bills were sponsored by state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles).

Following passage of SB X5 4, Romero issued a statement in which she said delivering “a bold and comprehensive reform package is of utmost importance and our absolute obligation as elected officials.”

‘Killed by Silence’

Romero was most displeased with the fact that her first bill was “killed by silence.” Six of the 17 committee members abstained in the 6-5-6 vote.

“They left 6.6 million kids at the altar with no legislative vehicle for ensuring the state gets the funding and those students receive the education they need,” said Teala Schaff, Romero’s press secretary. “Here we are 30 days before the deadline, and the Assembly is pulling these shenanigans.”

Although the compromise bill removes caps for charter schools, Schaff notes it is at odds with federal Race to the Top guidelines.

“The education establishment in California does not support growth of charter schools in the same way the president has called for,” she said. “This is definitely not answering the call of the Obama administration.”

At press time the bill was pending in the Assembly Education Committee, where Shannon Murphy, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), said it likely will be taken up after the first of the year. Murphy indicated leaders in both chambers “have reached a framework for an agreement.”

Applying pressure for a compromise was the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, which warned the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office “the federal funds under the stimulus bill and possibly billions in ongoing federal funds for public education are likely at risk” without “real progress” on reforms.

Parental ‘Trigger’ Reinserted

The Senate version of the pending bill does not lift the restrictions on the number of charter schools, but it does keep other strong reforms in place. It allows for “significant intervention” in the bottom 5 percent of schools and all high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent in the past three years. It also includes the “parental trigger” for use in turning around up to 75 schools and “open enrollment” for all students in the bottom 10 percent of schools statewide. While the unions continue to oppose these measures, reformers hope support for the reforms is strong enough to get them passed.

The charter school cap issue seems to be more about symbolism than a lack of capacity. California has the nation’s highest cap on charter schools, at 1,350. The state currently has 768 charter schools, so even with 100 new charters are being added each year there’s still much room to grow without the cap becoming a logistical issue.

1,077 Failing Schools

School choice supporters find it ironic that California’s anti-choice establishment placed so much emphasis on holding charter schools accountable when nearly all the state’s poorly performing public schools are conventional ones, not charters.

Only 21 of the 1,077 schools failing to make adequate progress for at least seven consecutive years in California are charter schools.

“They’re talking about all this accountability, yet less than 1 percent of these failing schools are charters,” Clark noted. “Fine. Let’s get serious about accountability, but that’s not what we’re doing here.”

Jim Waters (jwaters@freedomkentucky.com) is director of policy and communications at the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions in Bowling Green, Kentucky.