Race to the Top scoring may not determine final awards

Kentucky’s education leaders really knocked themselves out putting together our application for the Race to the Top federal education funding competition. Except for the glaring omission of charter school legislation, the state’s edu-team tried everything they could think of to garner every possible point in the published scoring scheme.

Well, Education Week now reports(subscription?):

“…the ultimate power rests with Mr. Duncan, who will have the final say in awarding those cash prizes. But if the secretary deviates from the highest scores in awarding the Race to the Top grants, department officials have said he pledges to justify his reasons.”

In other words, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan can do what he wants no matter how the scores come out.

So much for a fair part of the effort expended to get us the maximum points possible.

And, maybe, since it is well-known that the Secretary really favors charter schools, Kentucky’s refusal to implement them may turn out to be a deal breaker, points or no points.