Yup! It’s true. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan confirmed in a letter to Congresswoman Gwen Moore that a mayoral takeover of the Milwaukee Public Schools is not necessary for Race to the Top funds—no matter what the governor says.Here’s a transcript of Duncan’s letter, dated Oct. 7:
Dear Congresswoman Moore:
Thank you for your September 2 letter following up on our July 9 discussion. It was a pleasure to meet with you and discuss our common interest in improving educational opportunities for America’s students and, in particular, in raising the achievement of inner-city students, a top priority of mine and of this Administration.
You asked about qualification and standards that States must meet in order to compete for Race to the Top grants. Although we have not yet released the final priorities and criteria for Race to the Top, mayoral control of the public schools was not a criterion included in the proposed priorities that we released for public comment in July.
However, as we discussed, the Department has proposed making ineligible for a Race to the Top grant any State that has legal, statutory, or regulatory barriers to linking data about student achievement or student growth to teachers for the purpose of teacher and principal evaluation. I commend the Wisconsin State Legislature for moving toward amending State law to address this issue.
Later this fall, we expect to publish the Notice of Final Priorities and the Notice Inviting Applications for Race to the Top. Thank you for your continued support as we implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Sincerely,
Arne Duncan
(You may remember that Moore confirmed all of this in an earlier letter.)
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