State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Testifies On 'Race to the Top'

 State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today testified at a hearing of the Senate Education Committee regarding California's efforts to fulfill the application requirements for "Race to the Top" funds. The following is O'Connell's testimony as prepared for today's hearing:

"We gather this morning at an important moment for our nation's education system. A global economy and increasingly sophisticated workforce have in many ways fundamentally changed what our students should know and be able to do. In that context, the 'Race to the Top' competition has the potential to usher in a period of bold and far-reaching structural reform of our nation's K-12 public education system.

"Here in California, on the heals of decades of reform that has seen a steady increase in student achievement for all students across all subgroups, the 'Race to the Top' competition represents a unique opportunity for California to take our efforts to the next level.

"In fact, the $4.35 billion in total funds available is geared specifically toward system changes; the kind of much-needed changes we strongly must consider if we are to continue to increase student achievement, close California's persistent achievement gap, and ensure that each and every one of our children is effectively prepared for the challenges he or she will encounter in the global marketplace.

"This grant is the largest amount of money ever offered by the federal government to specifically focus on our 'systems' of education. Any monies won in this competition will not be used to cover operational costs, restore lost funding, or supplement existing programs. Though to be clear: we all must figure out a way to get desperately needed additional resources to our schools. We all recall the clear conclusion of the 'Getting Down to Facts' research project that said neither reform nor revenue alone would solve our problems. Instead, we need to do both. Today's conversation gives us a great avenue to discuss reform, but we also have an obligation to our students to find new ways to increase revenues.

"After reviewing the 'Race to the Top' application - and while there are some things I would change and we're communicating that to the U.S. Department of Education - I agree with their four main areas of focus. It is the right conversation to have and correctly focuses on how to increase student learning and close achievement gaps. Let me also emphasize that I am fully confident in our collective ability to succeed in this competition if we work collaboratively to make sure that we make the best case possible for these funds to come our way.

"Make no mistake about it: this is not a cause for one person or one group. We are all in this together. So we will all either succeed together or fail together. If we push through legislation, or promulgate regulatory reform over the objection of our stakeholders, then we will not have really succeeded. I am not, however, advocating a race to the lowest common denominator. We must be bold and force conversations that make us all uncomfortable. But we must do so in a fashion that puts the needs of our students first.

"As you know, the competition calls for four specific areas of reform.

"Firstly, it calls for states to adopt common core national standards and assessments to prepare students for success in college and the workplace. California has long been a model for setting high standards and a strict measure of accountability. But this is a unique opportunity to work across geographic boundaries in order to internationally benchmark our standards and ensure we are all ready for the global economy - all through a process driven by the states, not the federal government. I also share your and the Governor's commitment that doing so should not take one step back from the high standards we have set for all students in California. That is why I am committed to being part of this national conversation.

"Secondly, using data in our schools makes sense because it allows for informed and targeted decisions that make a greater impact, sooner, on improving student achievement. But our conversations about data can no longer focus on what kind of data to collect. Frankly, while we here in California are still debating what information to collect, other states are having the right conversation about how to use that information to improve. That's the conversation this competition allows us to begin: how to better serve the needs of the most diverse student population in the country.

"Thirdly, we must work closely with school and district officials when confronting the matter of low-performing schools. The state clearly has an obligation to ensure every student is being well-served, yet there is a strong body of evidence in California that state intervention in local schools is ultimately ineffective. These tough decisions must be done in concert with the state and local communities, and I want to make sure our application reflects this reality. In addition, I am pressing the federal government to change their restrictive set of interventions that consist of three main options: putting in place new leadership and a majority of new staff; converting to charters; closing schools and placing students elsewhere. I believe in our local educators and think they can best design effective plans, but we need to provide better guidance and remove barriers that hurt these efforts.

"Finally, and I think most importantly, it is exactly right to focus on effectiveness. Because at the end of the day, all that really matters is the learning that goes on in classrooms across this state. I agree with the administration that student outcomes should and must be a part of an evaluation process. But I only support it because 'Race to the Top' is about systemic change, not piecemeal efforts. I would never, ever support any evaluation of our educators based solely on the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. Our state assessments were not designed nor developed for that purpose and using this single test would not provide an accurate evaluation of the work being done in our classrooms.

"Each of these points is part of the whole of our application for 'Race to the Top' funds. We cannot fulfill one or some or any other combination of these requirements. It is very much a case of all or none.

"It is a tall order, but we are capable - and, if nothing else, we have an obligation to make sure that we eligible for receipt of as many of these funds as possible.

"We are going to have to change some state laws (e.g. firewall, charter cap, or authority to intervene in low-performing schools), regulations and practices (e.g. growth model, clearer rules around authorizing charter schools or additional data reports.) We are going to need serious conversations about the way we have been doing business and how that is going to change. Without question, all of us are going to have to look within ourselves and ask the question: "Is my issue area, my focus more important than the whole of California's 6.3 million public school students?"

"These are by no means simple tasks, but in the end, I feel that we will come together, shed our individual differences and work toward our major commonality: our children's future."