Win or lose, Race to the Top worth it for state's students

WHETHER this state's bid for part of a $4.3 billion federal fund known as Race to the Top is an exercise in futility or an attainable goal, it ought to change the education-reform game here.

Enough pats on the back for the few reforms enacted. Most came with all the haste of a tortoise. Critical time and opportunity was lost as state lawmakers and the formidable state teachers' union argued over the smallest changes.

The 2009 Legislature revamped education funding, brought data collection into the 21st century and required all students to be academically prepared for college.

Other changes still elude Washington's public education system.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan hasn't been quiet about his disappointment that Washington has an almost rabid aversion to charter schools. Duncan has a point.

The charters debate here has lacked thoughtfulness about the potential of limited uses of these quasi-public schools. Alternative schools in Seattle, Tacoma and other districts are pointed to as examples of Washington's wild innovation. But a school board-controlled charter school wouldn't push the boundaries much farther. Except the teachers union is OK with alternative schools but hates charters.

Detractors of this sort, with an eye on adults and jobs rather than students and learning, are hurdles the Legislature must clear for the public.

Here's how: Lawmakers must establish a compensation system for teachers and principals that includes student performance as a benchmark. This doesn't mean pay depends solely on student performance — too many other factors, including parent involvement, persist — but a link between instruction and achievement is obvious.

The state's voluntary school-improvement program ought to become mandatory, thereby giving the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction much-needed enforcement teeth. And no excuse not to intervene in struggling schools.

January's first round in this competition may leave Washington winless. Favorable legislative action could put the state in a winning position for the second round in June.

Like with any competition, the outcome matters less than the improvements that result from having played the game rather than sat out on the sidelines.