MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Editor
Posted: Sunday, April 4, 2010 12:00 am

So far local schools aren’t sure just what they are allowed to do with the money, but it can’t be used to plug funding gaps.

The U.S. Department of Education shocked the nation this week when it named Tennessee and Delaware as the first two winners of the Race to the Top Competition.

“This is a landmark opportunity for Tennessee,” Gov. Phil Bredesen said. “Our success in Race to the Top speaks to the commitment we’ve made to meaningful and significant improvement in public education, and the funds provided by the grant will carry us forward in a dramatic and positive direction.”

Tennessee will receive approximately $500 million over the next four years to implement comprehensive education reform with almost $5 million flowing into Rutherford County and Murfreesboro City schools.

The state requested more than $500 million in its application, as yet the exact amount the state will receive hasn’t been set but negotiations will continue to finalize award amounts.

But the state does know that half of the funding will go to local school districts.

“In the next 90 or so days, every local school district will submit a ‘scope of work’ that outlines what they plan to do with those funds,” explained Amanda Anderson, spokeswomen for the Tennessee Department of Education. “Our broad goals for the state include turning around our low-performing schools; increasing professional development and investment in human capitol; increasing STEM learning initiatives (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math); and training teachers on the effective use of students data.”

According to legislative liaison Dr. Bruce Opie who appeared before the Senate Education Committee this week, the money could be available to schools as early as July. He also said school systems will benefit from professional development programs being put into place on a statewide basis.

So far local schools aren’t sure just what they are allowed to do with the money, but it can’t be used to plug funding gaps.

Rutherford County Schools spokesman James Evans added the state will distribute the money based on poverty percentages so systems with the most at-risk students will receive a bigger slice.

“So that means that although we're one of the largest districts in the state, we won't get a proportional share,” he said. “Districts with high poverty and a high number of struggling schools will get the most funding, according to what we know now.”

Right now it looks like RCS will receive around $3.6 million and Murfreesboro City Schools will get $1.28 million. These figures are based on the state receiving an estimated $485 million.

“This will be a tremendous boost to help our schools improve student achievement,” Sen. Bill Ketron said. “I am very pleased these funds are available to our schools and that Tennessee was successful in implementing meaningful education reform.”

The General Assembly met in a special session earlier this year to enact reforms for the Race to the Top.

The legislature approved changes by adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments for students; recruiting, developing, rewarding and retaining effective teachers and principals; building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices; and turning around the lowest-performing schools.

Race to the Top will also allow for early intervention in failing schools, which is currently a multi-year process, and ties funding to graduation rates.

Race to the Top’s main reform is a change to teacher tenure laws that ties student performance to teacher evaluations.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded Tennessee high scores because of the changes made during the special session a well as support from teacher’s union leaders, local school districts and business leaders.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.