I've said for a looooong time that Georgia should say, "Thanks, but no thanks" to federal dollars. Too many strings. Too little reimbursement. In fact, studies show that NCLB mandates actually COST states more money to implement than they are reimbursed -- for bureaucracy, testing and waste!
Now comes Texas - doing just that - saying, "Thanks, but no thanks" to the Race to the Top money. Gutsy! Good going Texas!
Texas governor to feds: Stay out of our schools
1:51 pm January 14, 2010, by Maureen Downey
A key racer just dropped out of the Race to the Top, the competition under way among states to win federal school improvement millions.
Texas is dropping out even though it was in line for up to $700 million. The governor said the trade-off wasn’t worth it. Up until now, Texas had been preparing its application and working with the Gates Foundation to build its case and satisfy the stiff criteria to win the grants.
“Texas is on the right path toward improved education, and we would be foolish and irresponsible to place our children’s future in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and special interest groups thousands of miles away in Washington, virtually eliminating parents’ participation in their children’s education,” said Gov. Rick Perry in a statement. “If Washington were truly concerned about funding education with solutions that match local challenges, they would make the money available to states with no strings attached.”
In a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Perry wrote:
“I will not commit Texas taxpayers to unfunded federal obligations or to the adoption of unproven, cost-prohibitive national curriculum standards and tests. In the interest of protecting our state sovereignty over matters concerning education and shielding local schools from unwarranted federal intrusion into local decision-making, Texas will not be submitting an application for RTTT funds.”
In a statement, Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott said, “I wholeheartedly support the governor’s decision. This one-time grant program would result in mandates for districts that would last for decades.”
