President Obama said “that his signature education program, Race to the Top, was 'a competition that convinced almost every state to develop smarter curricula and higher standards, for about 1 percent of what we spend on education each year.' I am not sure why Obama felt entitled to brag. Race to the Top has been in place for four years now and its major impact seems to be the constant testing of students, high profits for testing companies such as Pearson, and questionable reevaluations of teachers. It is unclear to me what positive changes Race to the Top has actually achieved.”
Alan Singer: http://dianeravitch.net/2013/02/14/what-was-wrong-with-obamas-state-of-the-union-address/
First problem was the lack of clear idea of what the "top" was. Pearson and other companies, and who knows whose relatives and affiliates are making a pile of $$$$ while teacher salaries at our school will have no increase for the next three years,and our insurance will go up 4% or more each of those years. PARCC and SMART tests are going to require big investment if tech and bandwidth which our little district can ill afford. Unfunded state and federal mandates are killing poor districts such as mine. Of course, that's okay, because there will be such a glorious choice of wonderful charter schools available to students. NOT!
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