A $75 million federal grant to D.C. schools would be threatened if mayoral candidate Vincent Gray significantly changes Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s reforms, the Department of Education said.
The $64.5 million that Rhee solicited from private foundations, which are funding $25,000 teacher bonuses, also would be at risk, analysts say.
The District’s application for federal “Race to the Top” funding packed 202 pages with specific reforms to win the maximum possible grant from the Department of Education. Those strategies include data-focused evaluations and the use of school closures and firings to turn around underperforming schools.
Gray has criticized the evaluation system Rhee introduced to remove more than 200 ineffective teachers, and he has not said if he would keep Rhee on as chancellor if he is elected in November.
Education Department spokesman Justin Hamilton said funding could be yanked from states that don’t follow their listed initiatives.
“We’re funding winning applications based on the assumption that the reforms in those applications are going to be what’s put in place,” Hamilton said. “Fundamentally changing what’s in the winning application could put funding in jeopardy.”
But union ties could persuade Gray to ditch Rhee’s reforms anyway, said Andrew Rotherham, co-founder of Bellwether Education, a nonprofit focused on low-income students. “The [national] teachers union doesn’t invest $1 million in a campaign with no reason,” Rotherham said.
Eric Lerum, chief of staff for the deputy mayor of education, warned that pulled federal funding would undermine not only the school system’s budget, but it also could shut down the flow of new revenue. “If I’m a private donor, am I willing to invest in a school system that the Department of Education says, ‘We’ve lost confidence in your ability to implement reforms?'” Lerum asked.
But Gray could weaken reforms in a manner not “cut and dry” enough for government intervention, Rotherham said. “For instance, if the teacher evaluations stop becoming meaningful for principals, then it goes away — not officially, but it goes away,” he said.
It would be easier for the four private donors that contributed funding for the landmark teachers contract — with the stipulation that Rhee remain in her post — to withdraw funds, said Chad Aldeman, policy analyst at Education Sector, an independent think tank.
“Michelle Rhee brought national attention and interest from philanthropies to get involved in D.C. public education, and that will probably dissipate if she leaves,” Aldeman said.
Denis Calabrese, president of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, which donated $10 million, said in an e-mail, “We are strong supporters of the kind of reforms that have been put in place under Michelle Rhee. … If for some reason changes take place, either from a personnel or policy perspective, we will evaluate the new situation at that time.”
