Using federal funds, Vt. schools apply for a makeover
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By CRISTINA KUMKA Rutland Herald Staff - Published: May 10, 2010
Four out of 10 Vermont schools tagged in March by the state as "persistently low-achieving" and eligible for more federal aid because of the designation have agreed to apply for the funding.
The letters of intent to seek a piece of $8.5 million in federal stimulus dollars for education are trickling into the Vermont Department of Education, even though the department's commissioner said the option the schools are choosing — a transformation model that requires the firing of the principal in some cases — isn't favorably looked on by state education officials.
"Firing a principal and teachers is not the way to turn around some schools in whatever capacity," Vermont Education Commissioner Armando Vilaseca said from his Montpelier office Saturday.
"Quite often there are other issues that may occur … the curriculum is not up to state standards and professional development is not consistent and coherent toward student improvement," he said.
As of Friday, Mount Abraham Union High School, St. Johnsbury School, Windsor High School and Winooski High School have all said they want a school improvement grant.
Rutland High School, ranked fourth on the lowest-achieving list, is still considering applying for the funds.
"We have been researching it and thinking seriously about how it would all work out," Principal Bill Olsen wrote in an e-mail last week.
The deadline for schools to file their intent is May 15 and individual school's applications are due June 15, according to Rae Ann Knopf, the state department's deputy commissioner.
All four schools chose a transformation model, which requires the firing of the principal if he/she "led the school prior to commencement of the transformation model" and choose reforms more heavily weighted on using test scores as a measure of student progress, according to the state department's grant application to the federal government, available on the state DOE's website.
Other options under the federal money included closing a school, hiring an outside party to run a new charter school, and firing the principal and half of all teachers.
The grant money for Vermont was increased dramatically this year as part of more than $3 billion in stimulus money authorized for disbursement nationwide last year, according to the state education department website.
Ninety-six schools, out of the state's 280, were listed by the state as most eligible for the grants because of poverty rates that applied to more than 40 percent of the school's student population and low standardized test scores compared to other schools.
The scores considered were from the 2008 New England Common Assessment Program in reading and math and the progress made on that same test over the last two years.
The most recent NECAP tests from 200-9/2010 were not considered because the results were unavailable when the state was asked to come up with a list for the federal government, according to the state department.
In the transformation model, schools are also required to use "rigorous" evaluation systems for teachers and principals and reward teachers with financial incentives or promotions if they are improving student achievement, according to the application.
To be considered for termination, the principal had to have been at the school for more than two years and the scores considered had to have happened under that principal's watch, Vilaseca said.
Some schools ranking in the top 10, like St. Johnsbury, have already fired their principal, while others, like Fair Haven Union High School, are immune to the requirement because the current principal didn't oversee that year's test scores.
The federal government is weighing in on education, now more than ever, by reauthorizing the 2001 federal No Child Left Behind Act and putting more weight on test scores.
According to President Barack Obama's Blueprint for Education Reform report, in the end, the country may move to more broad standardized tests that span across more states to assess what students know.
The school ranking by the state reflects the federal government's effort to determine which schools need the most help, based on poverty, student test scores, drop out and graduation rates.
In Vermont, where no school has less than a 60 percent graduation rate, poverty and test scores are also applicable for determinations.
The federal government is demanding that schools that apply provide a budget and a self-assessment to meet required goals, according to a copy of the letter of intent sent to schools from the state education department.
Additionally, the federal education department will hold each school receiving funds accountable for the number of instructional minutes in a school year, achievement on test scores, student participation rate on tests, discipline incidents, and teacher attendance rates, according to the letter.
Vilaseca said he's pushing the U.S. Department of Education to set an academic standard and a time frame for it to be accomplished, then allowing states to make it happen according to their own plans.
"A lot of things we know we can do and we're heading in that direction now," Vilaseca said. "It's not incongruent with the feds, but more personalized to the state and not just targeting certain schools or student groups."
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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