US Education Secretary Duncan Speaks at the State Capitol

By Karen DeWitt

Albany, New York – New York, which came in second in the federal Race to the Top funding competition, was the first stop on US Education Secretary Arne Duncan's visits to winning states.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan told New York political and education leaders that the $700 million dollars that the state won in the Race to the Top competition is not a "gift", but a benefit that was "earned". Duncan says though "conversations were not always easy" as state leaders wrestled with how to meet the contest requirements, he expects "great things" from a state he says shares his sense of urgency about fixing the nation's schools.

Duncan says educators have to "stop lying to kids" and their parents about the performance of the state's schools, and put an end to "dumbing down" standards.

Governor Paterson and the legislature had to agree to lift the state's cap on charter schools, and teacher's
unions had to accede to new tenure standards in order to win the money. Paterson failed to win consensus on those two issues during round one of the competition, and New York lost out to other states. In the second round , the state placed second in the nation, just behind Massachusetts.

The money cannot be used to rehire laid off teachers, offset property taxes or to plug schools' budget holes, New York has already received $670 million dollars from the most recent federal stimulus package for that. The Race to the Top funds will finance a new data base and evaluation system for teachers, and for more training for teachers and their principals. Some of the money will go to help raise standards in the state's lowest performing schools.

State Education Commissioner David Steiner says the new programs will be much more than just a "gotcha system" for teachers, but he says if, after training, a teacher does not meet the new standards, then "that teacher shouldn't remain year after year in front of the classroom".

New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein says sometimes "tough medicine is necessary" to improve the state's educational system, and move from " an art form to a science", with data based evaluation for teachers.

Secretary Duncan also visited the headquarters of the New York State United Teachers union, where teachers from every region of the state offered their ideas on how to devise a new evaluation process.