Many area school districts now supporting Race to the Top

It looks like the support Iowa lacked for its first Race to the Top application will be there the second time around - with reservation.

“A majority of the Urban Education Network school districts are expected to give ‘conditional' support of Iowa's application for Race To The Top funding by signing a Memorandum of Understanding,” said Lew Finch, the organization's executive director.

The network's eight districts discussed the issue in conference call last week. Only one of the districts - Iowa City - signed a MOU for the first round of Race to the Top funding.

Race to the Top is a federal grant program funded by The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in which states compete for money to improve education.

Two states - Delaware and Tennessee - won grants in the first phase of the Race to the Top competition. Applications for the second round of funding - about $3.4 billion - are due June 1.

To be eligible for funding, the federal government requires school districts to sign a MOU with the state department of education. The MOU outlines the actions the district must agree to take in order to receive Race to the Top support.

About 60 percent of Iowa's 361 school districts signed a MOU for the state's first application. When Iowa failed to make the list of 15 state finalists, it was hinted that the lack of support hurt the state.

“It is one of the factors we are asking peer reviewers to evaluate,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said.

More questions than answers kept most districts from supporting Iowa's application the first time around. Finch said there are still concerns, but superintendents can't justify turning their back on potential funds.

Superintendent Dave Benson told the Cedar Rapids school board that the district will receive $4 million if Iowa's application is approved.

Iowa City schools will receive about $1.8 million. School board members approved Superintendent Lane Plugge's recommendation to the sign the MOU Tuesday night.

Benson stressed in his recommendation that Iowa's application won't require districts to adopt one of four models developed by the U.S. Department of Education to turn around its persistently lowest achieving schools. Instead, districts will design their own school improvement plan.

“Should the Iowa application be approved, we have 90 days to work with teachers and the school board to develop a plan,” Benson said.

If a plan can't be agreed upon during that time, the district can opt out of the program without penalty.

School districts have until 4:30 p.m. Friday to submit a MOU.