Washington not a finalist for Race to Top school money

Washington state started near the back of the pack in the federal education competition known as Race to the Top, and it hasn't caught up yet.

When the federal government announced the 19 finalists in the second round of that competition on Tuesday, Washington was one of 17 states that did not make the cut and have no chance at being one of the 10-15 winners in September.

To those who like what the federal government is promoting, that's bad news. Washington wasn't bold enough, they say.

"We started behind, and we offered less. That's not a recipe for winning," said Chris Korsmo, executive director of the League of Education Voters, a statewide advocacy group.

"Maybe it's a wake-up call," said Mike Sotelo, president of the King County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "It just shows that there are a lot of things that we need to improve on."

But state officials, while disappointed, said they stayed true to their beliefs about what's best for Washington and what will work here. And they said they still intend to carry out their plans for improving schools, albeit more slowly without the $150 million to $250 million they would have received if they'd won.

"The choice was made ... that we were going to build consensus and do what's best for Washington, and not chase the points. And that's what we did," said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn.

States were scored in four main areas — the use of data, world-class standards and tests, turning around low-performing schools, and great teachers and leaders — for a maximum of 500 points.

Officials here went for buy-in rather than boldness, crafting a plan they hoped teachers and principals and superintendents all over the state would support.

They proposed revamping the way teachers and principals are evaluated, for example, but stopped short of requiring districts to base part of those evaluations on how well students perform.

That's despite the fact that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has stressed that he was looking for states willing to tie teacher evaluation to student performance. Washington state officials did, however, offer opportunities for districts that wanted to go further.

About 90 percent of Washington's school districts signed on to the state's application, which looked like it might be a big plus. The two winners in Round 1 — Delaware and Tennessee — had as much or more buy-in from their school districts.

But Washington ended up losing out to states such as Georgia, which had buy-in from only 14 percent of its districts.

"They had low buy-in, but they had stronger reforms than we did, pure and simple," said Maureen Trantham, communications director at the Partnership for Learning, a business-backed group that pushed the state to be bolder in its application.

One example: Florida is planning to base half of its evaluation of teachers on their students' growth.

Duncan announced last year that his department planned to award $4.35 billion to states willing to make bold changes aimed at dramatically improving U.S. education.

Washington chose to sit out the first round. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia applied in Round 2. A third round is possible, too, which Washington could enter if it chooses.

Washington's loss in Round 2 wasn't a surprise. To even enter the competition, the state first needed to pass a law allowing it to compel very low-performing schools to improve, which the Legislature didn't do until after the Round 1 deadline passed.

And there hasn't been strong support here for other initiatives that Duncan is pushing, such as merit pay, which critics say is unproven and may do more harm than good.

The Washington Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, strongly opposes basing even part of teachers' evaluations on how well their students perform — which clearly cost the state some points.

Mary Lindquist, the union president, has said teaching is simply much more of a team effort.

In her statement Tuesday, Lindquist said she supports the plans in Washington's application, but she criticized Race to the Top, saying that in tough budget times, "pitting one state, one district or one school against the other is the wrong approach."

And about 30 Washington school districts decided against participating, including the Snohomish School District, where the superintendent said he didn't want to give up local control.

Washington also lost about 40 points in the competition because it doesn't allow charter schools.

The federal government won't release each applicant's full scores until winners are announced in September.

In his news conference, however, Duncan singled out Washington as one example of the good that he says Race to the Top has done, even for states that don't win.

All the applicants, he said, made progress even if they weren't chosen as finalists, and he pointed out that the federal government has given out a number of other grants that states such as Washington can use to help them carry out their plans.

"It's really not about the money," he said. "It's about a courage and a commitment and willingness to drive reform at the local level."

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com