Schools that have begun to write the Race to the Top grant find the process totally overwhelming.
Race to the Top Process Very Demanding
Grants are often labor intensive and school staff expect to spend large amounts of time completing the application forms. However, schools do not expect to spend over 700 hours on the project. Joanne Weiss, director of the Race to the Top competition at the Department of Education believes that the 681-hour estimate is arbitrary. "States are welcome to spend more or less time," says Weiss. [1]
Is 681 Hours for Writing Race to the Top Grant Excessive?
Many small schools are faced with declining enrollment, especially in rural areas of the United States. Declining enrollments translate into less money. The number of students attending the school determines school funding. Fewer students generate a smaller budget. This unfortunate situation forces schools to cut staff even when there seems to be nothing left to cut. If schools must cut staff to balance the budgets, how will the time be found to write a grant that takes an estimated 681 hours?
What does 681 hours look like? A school would have to assign one staff member to work eight hours a day for seventeen weeks to complete 681 hours. However, this timeline is merely an estimate. It could take much longer to complete Race to the Top than 681 hours. Schools that are unfamiliar with grant writing and don’t have specialists on staff could easily end up spending much more time.
Race to the Top Timeline
The draft guidelines were issued July 2009 prior to schools being in session. Deadline for the first round is January 19, 2010. By that date, school must submit the long-term agenda for improving public education. Schools must also include the progress on raising student achievement.
Schools must also submit
- How their state intends to develop and adopt higher academic standards,
- To shake up its systems for evaluating and compensating teachers,
- Use data more extensively to improve student learning, and
- Lay out strategies for overhauling their worst schools.
The federal department of education also limits grant information to 100 pages with no more than 250 pages in appendices. [1]
40 states plan on applying for the grant. If the estimated time for completion is accurate, the number of hours spent writing this grant across the nation is astronomical. Hopefully, the time spent away from other important issues will eventually benefit students.
[1] Sam Dillon, "Extra Homework Applying for Education Grants," The New York Times, December 27, 2009.
Barbara Pytel - Email me Experience Although I was never particularly fond of going to school as an ELL student, I ironically became a teacher, ...
