Race to the Top: a tipping point for Washington

Compete in math and science nationally and internationally.

Attain high academic standards regardless of race, ethnicity or gender.

Graduate ready to succeed in college, training and careers.

With the help of Washington school districts, we need to come together to develop a plan that turns these goals into reality.

This year, the passage of Washington’s Race to the Top legislation, S.B. 6696, put in place reforms to turn around our lowest-performing schools, open up alternative routes to teaching, set better evaluation criteria for teachers and principals and promote science, technology, engineering and math achievement.

These policies will only be impactful, however, if the state and its districts agree to do some things differently.

Why is this necessary? Our math and science scores remain flat and we are one of the few states in the nation where the achievement gap is actually growing.

Race to the Top represents an opportunity for Washington to get education reform right and solve these problems.

At the state level, this means reorganizing our education agencies to deliver on the reform plan established by Race to the Top. Creating departments and staff devoted to helping districts implement the grant application’s reforms — improving teacher and principal effectiveness, implementing college and career ready standards and assessments, using data improve instruction and turning around the lowest performing schools — would not only make us more competitive for federal funding, but demonstrate Washington’s commitment to student success as well.

At the district level, this means signing on to participate in one of the state’s “innovation clusters.” These clusters represent the building blocks for transforming education in our state and would provide extra support for districts willing to implement bold reforms such as evaluating and compensating teachers based on student performance and advancing innovations in math and science education.

With the coming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act and under Washington’s S.B. 6696, districts will need to implement many of the reforms advocated by Race to the Top, regardless of federal funding. By making a strong show of support for Washington’s application today, districts increase their chances to receive additional funding for reforms they will need to implement tomorrow.

Finally, it’s important for all districts to sign on to the state’s application, not just for the money they may receive, but in recognition of the significant collaboration and compromise that has already gone into this process. The business community would like to see stronger reforms implemented to make Washington truly competitive, but understands that conciliation is necessary to move our state forward.

Now it’s up to districts to demonstrate to Washington citizens, that our efforts have not been in vain and that we have developed a real plan — with broad support — that will move us one step closer to the goal of success for all students.

Brad Smith is the senior vice president and general counsel for Microsoft and board chair of the Washington Roundtable.