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Frederick M. Hess's Blog

Obama vs. That Darn Constitution

The Obama administration may need a bit of a refresher on the U.S. Constitution. In a peculiar move, the administration has announced that its "incentive-based" education reform strategy is now going to extend to its dealings with Congress. If Congress behaves and reauthorizes No Child Left Behind this year (a feat that seems highly unlikely at this point) and does so "consistent with the president's plan," the administration announced this week that it is going to make an extra $1 billion available for edu-spending.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Fri, January 29, 2010 12:38 PM  |  Permalink

You Call This Transparency?

Yesterday, on a press conference call, Education Secretary Arne Duncan made the following statement about the $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTT) program and transparency: "Our new competitive grant programs like Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation fund include greater transparency than ever before including publishing winning and losing applications, reviewer comments, and applicant's presentations." (Thanks to Eliza Krigman of the National Journal for the quotation.) I've been asked, in light of the questions I've raised earlier this week (here, here, and here), about the department's process, and whether this means I'm satisfied and/or abashed. The answer is "neither."

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Thu, January 28, 2010 4:34 PM  |  Permalink

Much to Like in Obama's Education Themes

Like my colleague Checker Finn, I think there's much to like in the themes of the president's education remarks in last night's State of the Union address. As Finn characterizes the president's immensely broad themes: "Use federal education dollars to reward success, not failure; apply [Education Secretary] Arne Duncan's "race to the top" reform priorities to the mega-bucks Elementary/Secondary Education Act; and keep a 'competitive' element in this rather than simply distributing dollars via formula." All of this reflects admirable intentions, but, like much else the president listed, it's much more difficult to do than to say.

For me, there were, however, two discordant notes and one surprising development in the SOTU.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Thu, January 28, 2010 2:09 PM  |  Permalink

It Depends on What the Meaning of 'Transparency' Is

Yesterday, on his Eduwonk blog, Andy Rotherham weighed in on the brewing controversy I've discussed here and here over the Race to the Top (RTT) review process. As usual, he offers a thoughtful assessment of the pros and cons of Education Secretary Arne Duncan's decision to keep secret the identities of the judges in the $4.35 billion grant competition until after winners are announced, and of Duncan's decision to release minimal detail about how the reviewers were chosen or the substance of the instructions they have received.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Wed, January 27, 2010 8:57 PM  |  Permalink

'Unprecedented Levels of Transparency'? Not So Far

Here's an update on yesterday's post regarding Education Secretary Arne Duncan's desire to keep under lock and key the names of the judges reviewing state applications for his signature $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTT) program. Following on the president's 2009 pledge that stimulus spending would be accompanied by an "unprecedented level of openness" and carried out with particular attention to transparency, Duncan personally promised in a blog post yesterday afternoon that the department had "enhanced" the "discretionary grant process to ensure maximum integrity and transparency" in the RTT process. Yet, he also repeated his insistence that the names of the judges would not be publicly released until after the cake is baked and the winners are announced in April—when it might be just a wee bit late for concerns about the judges or the process to be addressed.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Tue, January 26, 2010 11:40 AM  |  Permalink

The Education Secretary's Secret Judges

Late last week, Education Week's Michele McNeil reported that the Obama administration has secretly selected the reviewers for state grant applications to its $4.35 billion Race to the Top (RTT) fund, but has no intention of publicly revealing who these 60 judges are. Whether the department delivered 60 "disinterested superstars," as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan promised last September, is unclear.

Instead, apparently fearing that its handpicked reviewers would be subjected to blandishments or threats from knee-capping state departments of education, the administration hopes to protect their fragile virtue by hiding them until after the RTT winners are announced in April.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Mon, January 25, 2010 2:30 PM  |  Permalink

WSJ Finally Scrutinizes 'Selectivity' Standard in Race to the Top

On more than one occasion (including two days ago), I've remarked that the famously tough-minded Wall Street Journal editorial page was drinking the Kool-Aid when it came to the Obama administration's much-discussed Race to the Top (RTT) grant program. So it gives me much satisfaction to note that today's WSJ featured perhaps the savviest editorial yet penned by any major newspaper on RTT. The editorial noted the problems posed in ensuring that states will use the dollars as promised, the concern that grant proposals may emphasize punching required boxes rather than serious plans of action, and the question of what will happen to applications from hard-charging states that couldn't get union or local school board buy-in.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Thu, January 21, 2010 4:35 PM  |  Permalink

More Dollars for Race to the Top?

President Obama and his team have recently made it clear that "a new era of responsibility" has dawned and the time of fiscal recklessness is past (yes, he also announced this "a new era of responsibility" a year ago in his inaugural address, but apparently this time he means it). And in next week's State of the Union address he's going to signal that he's now ready to tackle out-of-control spending. So, naturally, as reported in the Washington Post, this morning the president is heading out to a Fairfax County school to announce a new $1.35 billion education initiative.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Tue, January 19, 2010 2:10 PM  |  Permalink

WaPo's Closer Look at Education Secretary's Chicago Record

About a year after Arne Duncan was nominated to serve as Secretary of Education, today's Washington Post finally got around to running a story that takes a slightly critical slant in assessing just how well Chicago's schools actually did during Duncan's seven-year tenure as superintendent. Reporter Nick Anderson noted that Chicago's fourth-grade math gains from 2003 to 2009 ranked behind those of several big-city districts including Boston, New York, San Diego, Atlanta, Houston, and even D.C., and that its eighth-grade gains similarly lagged Boston, San Diego, Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles.

While better late than never, it would have been nice if we'd seen more of this kind of coverage last winter or during 2009 when the major newspapers were serving as something of a cheering section for Duncan, education stimulus spending, and the Race to the Top initiative. Indeed, the unbridled enthusiasm (and pooh-poohing of skeptics) that has marked news and editorial coverage is eerily reminiscent of the initial response to No Child Left Behind—and we all remember how swimmingly that turned out.

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Tue, December 29, 2009 4:04 PM  |  Permalink

Why Is the Secretary of Education Lobbying on the Healthcare Bill?

Was it just me, or did anyone else find it troubling to read the Washington Post story "Democrats round up health bill votes" on Saturday and stumble upon this sentence: "Rep. Jason Altmire, a second-term Democrat who represents a blue-collar district in suburban Pittsburgh, was the focus of an aggressive lobbying effort Friday, taking calls from Obama, Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan."

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By Frederick M. Hess  |  Mon, November 9, 2009 10:32 AM  |  Permalink