By Kim Wiemer-Noyce

You may or possibly will be hearing about Race to the Top money. You might be thinking, “What is it Race to the Top and how does it impact me, an Education Support Professional?” Well, the ESP Blog is here to help.

Background on Race to the Top
Race to the Top (“RTT”) is one of the competitive grant programs funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, under which the federal government will award $4.35 billion in funding over the course of 2010.

Although every state is eligible to apply for the Race to the Top grant money or “award,” only a small subset of states (10) are expected to receive the grant money. The decision on which states receive the grant money will be made on a competitive basis by grading each state’s applications on a 500-point scale. It’s possible that Wisconsin will not receive a grant award.

Race to the Top awards will be made in two rounds with the first set of awards in April 2010 and the second set of awards in September 2010. State applications are due on January 19, 2010, for the first round and on June 1, 2010, for the second.

On November 18, 2009, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released guidance to states applying for Race to the Top grants. This guidance focuses on four areas:

• Developing and adopting common core standards and aligned assessments; implementing a statewide longitudinal data system to improve instruction.
• Improving teacher and principal quality by expanding certification avenues.
• Developing annual evaluation systems that include student growth as one of multiple measures of teacher and principal performance, linking those evaluations to key personnel decisions (certification, retention, dismissal and compensation), and ensuring the equitable distribution of effective teachers and principals.
• Turning around the lowest performing schools in the state.

How does Race to the Top impact ESP?
At this point, the Race to the Top grant process does not focus on support staff. Instead, the primary focus is on teachers and school administrators.

We think the impact on support staff bargaining will be minimal, if at all. It’s possible that support staff units will be indirectly affected in some way, but we won’t be able to determine the likelihood of this until Wisconsin submits its Race to the Top application.

If districts do raise Race to the Top issues at the bargaining table or in other ways, ESP local leaders should contact their UniServ Director for assistance. But again, remember, we don’t expect this to happen. We just want you to be aware and prepared.

WEAC has provided teachers with guidance on how to handle Race to the Top issues specific to teacher units.

If you have questions or have dealt with Race to the Top at your school, please post a comment or e-mail WEAC ESP Coordinator, Kim Wiemer Noyce.

For more information, visit the weac.org Race to the Top Resource Page.