A Democrat-led effort to divert millions from Race to the Top education reform money to backfill teacher salaries is not only disappointing but also sends the federal government hurtling off into the wrong direction.
Make no mistake, the state and local budget crunches that are putting teacher jobs on the line are troubling. But stifling the innovation that states have displayed as they’ve competed for the federal Race to the Top grant money is hardly the answer.
And the last thing the federal government, which already has bills it can’t pay, should start doing is covering local teachers’ salaries.
Creating a vital education system that successfully takes on the tough problems in education, such as the chronic achievement gap, is how you build public support for education spending.
We are heartened to see that Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall have joined 11 other senators in urging their colleagues to shoot down the proposal, which comes from Rep. David Obey, D-Wis. It would take about $500 million from the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund via an amendment to a supplemental war spending bill.
In justifying the proposal, Obey has said teacher layoffs are the most important issue facing public schools. A flurry of stories in recent months have estimated that 100,000 to 300,000 education jobs could be on the line.
We take no joy in that prospect, but a little perspective would be helpful. Not all the education jobs up for elimination would be teachers. The estimate includes other school workers, such as custodians and bus drivers. Furthermore, when you consider the nation has some 3.2 million K-12 teachers, the number of jobs that could be cut comes into better focus.
As we said, education job cuts would not be a positive development. But using education reform money to temporarily backfill salaries would derail some very promising public education reform efforts that are potential game-changers.
Nowhere has that been more evident than Colorado, where Race to the Top has been one of the motivators in passing reforms that have gotten attention nationwide.
Prominent among them is a bill that will reshape teacher tenure in Colorado, tying teachers’ job status to the academic progress of their students. It is a laudable change that puts the focus on achievement. It is one of the central reforms in Colorado’s bid for $175 million of Race to the Top money — a bid that education reform watchers believe has a good chance of success.
To pull the rug out from under Colorado (and 35 other states that have made thoughtful efforts to improve their educational systems) would be unfair and counterproductive.
President Obama has threatened to veto a war-funding bill that eviscerates the Race to the Top fund, and rightly so. Efforts to prevent teacher layoffs, while laudable, should not derail much-needed reform.
