BEWARE OF federal dollars that come with strings attached. They can get expensive. And bind.
That seems to be the message from some local school officials, who publicly fretted last week about a new, merit-based pay plan for teachers in the Savannah-Chatham County public school system that will be implemented next year.
Three years ago, the district agreed to be one of 26 school districts across Georgia that would be part of President Obama’s Race to the Top school improvement effort. Then-Gov. Sonny Perdue applauded Georgia’s selection as one of eight states that made the president’s cut, in part because it meant Georgia would get an additional $400 million over four years from the feds. Several school superintendents practically did cartwheels as well.
In theory, Race to the Top is designed to encourage states to become more creative in improving their public schools. But in practice, it has created a mess, at least in Georgia.
Just before the start of the current school year, the federal Department of Education threatened to withhold nearly $10 million earmarked for Georgia because of problems the state had been having over its teacher-evaluation plans. That move was unprecedented.
John Barge, Georgia’s superintendent of schools, explained over the summer that the state needed another year to come up with a plan, citing negative feedback from educators across the state.
It’s unclear if Thomas Lockamy, superintendent of Savannah-Chatham County schools, had been whispering into Mr. Barge’s ear at that time. However, judging from his comments last week, he’s no fan of what the Obama administration is pushing. That’s disturbing, given what he and the school board are trying to accomplish here.
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