Eleven local school districts and charter schools will reap thousands of extra dollars with yesterday's announcement that Massachusetts was selected to receive $250 million in federal grants, but critics worry the money comes with too many strings attached.
Across the state, 276 districts and charter schools joined in the application for the federal Race to the Top funding.
Locally, Beverly, Danvers, Essex Aggie, Hamilton-Wenham, Ipswich, Marblehead, North Shore Tech, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott applied for the grants. Salem Charter Academy will also receive a portion of the money.
The grants, which will be disbursed over four years, range from $29,802 in Hamilton-Wenham to Salem's $825,517.
Danvers Superintendent Lisa Dana said yesterday her district expects to use the money to help its highest and lowest achievers. She and the School Committee would be looking at after-school programs for students who need more help and potentially adopting a program that challenges top students.
Salem Superintendent William Cameron said a portion of the money would be directed to help the city's most advanced students and to prepare students for college. He hoped some of the funding could be used toward the city's Horace Mann charter school proposal.
"I'm pleased that we're going to have some additional resources that we can use to address specific issues that we face as a district," he said. "It really won't go very far given the costs in a variety of areas we're responsible for. It's hardly a panacea."
Cameron said whatever Salem does with its funding, the city must make sure it does not affect working conditions for the unions. Any changes spurred by the Race to the Top funding must be approved by the School Committee, the Salem superintendent said.
In the past, Peabody Superintendent C. Milton Burnett told his School Committee the district would use its funds to assist with data analysis of student test scores.
Bruce Nelson, president of the Peabody Federation of Teachers, said Massachusetts has long led the way in education. He and other union officials worry that acceptance of the grant funds will make the state followers rather than leaders.
"In spite of some pronouncements made at the state level, we strongly believe the Massachusetts standards are much more rigorous than the nationwide standards," he said.
In July, the state Board of Education adopted the national standards for English language arts and math, a move widely considered as an attempt to improve the state's chances of selection for the funding. Many have judged the federal standards inferior to the state's own, as evaluated by MCAS testing.
Dana disagreed that adoption of national standards would hurt the state.
"I don't think that's going to be allowed to happen," the Danvers superintendent said. "I look at it as an alignment."
She did say that it would take time for students and parents to see the changes.
Nelson also said unions have concerns about other pieces of the grant that require states to lift caps on charter schools.
"I have yet to see any hard evidence that charter schools are doing a better job than public schools," he said. "In many cases, they're not doing a better job."
He also said little of the funding would actually trickle down to classrooms, pointing to Peabody's use of the money for data analysis. The union president doubted whether a statistician would help.
Nelson said unions aren't opposed to change, but would rather support known programs like the Simon Youth Foundation's alternative high school that's opening at the Northshore Mall this fall.
He added that in education, trends cycle in and out of favor, but the best thing for education is stability and support of teachers and administrators in the district.
"Teachers are there," he said. "They are committed. They are the ones who deal daily with the individual concerns and the individual progress of the students."
On that, Cameron could agree.
"What we've lacked in public schools in the last 30 years is stability," he said.
The Salem superintendent said very little of what takes place in schools is fixed these days, whether it's the curriculum, funding or the requirements for teachers' credentials.
"Everything has been in a state of flux," Cameron said.
Race to the Top by Community
Beverly$360,392
Danvers$165,176
Essex Aggie$52,901
Ham-Wen$29,802
Ipswich$147,425
Marblehead$146,298
North Shore Tech$62,348
Peabody$511,821
Salem$825,517
Salem Academy Charter$49,085
Swampscott$97,200
Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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