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Comments to the School Board

November 10, 2009

Race to the Top

As you know, the Obama Administration is making a substantial amount of competitive grant money available to states and school districts that are innovating in the way they deliver public education. There is $4.3 billion available in state incentives, known as Race to the Top money. There’s another $650 million available to local education agencies – school districts – that are trying scalable innovation. This money is known as the “i3” money – Investing in Innovation.

The PTSA Council Board believes the Issaquah School District should at least look into what it would take to go after the i3 money. In a period of potentially severe budget cuts no one can afford to ignore any sizable pot of money that’s out there. We understand that pursuing these funds requires staff time. We would like to offer our support in the form of finding community resources to help staff on a voluntary basis in this endeavor.

Moreover, we believe the Issaquah School District should be a strong voice in support of the state’s efforts to apply for Race to the Top money. We understand there are eight work groups working now to identify what we as a state need to do immediately – i.e., this legislative session – to put us in a better position to qualify for one of these grants. The League of Education Voters estimates that currently only 15 states are well positioned to qualify, and Washington state isn’t one of them. We hope the Issaquah School District School Board and Administration leadership will voice their support for these efforts, keeping in mind that ultimately it is less about the money and more about the reforms that the money is rewarding that helps ensure our children are getting the highest quality education we can give them.