State beats the clock in bid for federal education funds

Minnesota turned in its application for federal "Race to the Top" funding just a few hours under the wire, with 300 school districts and 116 charter schools signing on for a shot at the education-oriented stimulus money.

The state is seeking up to $330 million spread out over four years; the funds are aimed at improving teaching and data collection to boost student performance. The U.S. Department of Education is expected to award Race to the Top (RTTT) grants to 10 to 15 states, with the total outlay put at $4.35 billion. The awards are to be announced in April.

Minnesota Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said the degree of support from state schools, which influenced the state to raise its request from $230 million to $330 million.

"It turns out that over 93 percent of Minnesota's schoolchildren are represented in the Race to the Top application," she said at a Wednesday news conference at Jackson Preparatory Magnet Elementary School in St. Paul. "[In that regard] I think we're going to be in the top 10 to 15 percent of the country."

But differences remain between the state Education Department and the Education Minnesota teachers union about requirements the state has imposed for RTTT eligibility.

Those include the state's insistence that school districts at least work toward participation in the state's Q Comp program, a voluntary, state-funded initiative intended to change the way teachers are paid.

Seagren said a sticking point is Q Comp's requirement that links teacher evaluations and pay to how well their students are doing. Tom Dooher, Education Minnesota head, wrote to U.S. Education officials on Friday stating his concern that the Q Comp requirement would tie "virtually every aspect of a teacher's career" to student test score data.

Teacher union support is considered an element in deciding which states get the grants.

"We're going to have disagreements with Education Minnesota from time to time," Seagren said.

She said a number of Education Minnesota locals, including those in Minneapolis and St. Paul, have signed a "memorandum of agreement" indicating support for the RTTT application.

Seagren said the 1,000-page application got to the Department of Education in Washington late Saturday morning, several hours before the deadline. To make sure it got there safe and sound, a state Department of Education employee personally delivered it.

Should the requests be approved, state officials estimate that Minneapolis would get $34.7 million over the life of the grant; St. Paul, $31.5 million, and Anoka-Hennepin, $9.6 million.