This week, Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau wrote about Montana's application for federal school funding called "Race to the Top." Read her guest opinion in the June 10, 2010 edition of the Missoulian:
Last week, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Board of Public Education Chairwoman Patty Myers, more than 700 local schools and I submitted Montana's Race to the Top application to the U.S. Department of Education. The schools participating in this opportunity represent 94 percent of Montana's K-12 students, and a winning proposal could bring up to $74 million in federal funds that will benefit all schools in Montana.
Other states, during their application process, passed charter school laws, tied teacher performance to student test scores, adopted national standards that have not yet been finalized and fired teachers and staff wholesale. None of this is proposed in the Montana Plan because they will not work in our state. Montana has not changed its laws or administrative rules to apply for one-time-only federal funding.
