Arizona seeks $250 million in federal stimulus funds for competitive education grants

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Arizona seeks $250M in federal education grants

PHOENIX — Arizona has submitted an application for a piece of $4.3 million in competitive federal stimulus grants for education.

Tuesday was the deadline to apply for grants from the program known as “Race to the Top.” Arizona’s application, which seeks $250 million, touts Gov. Jan Brewer’s education agenda, including developing a public database tracking student performance, ensuring strong reading instruction through third grade and ending “social promotion” of students who haven’t mastered grade-level concepts.

The federal funds were included in the $787 billion economic stimulus program that President Barack Obama signed into law soon after taking office.

Obama announced Tuesday he’ll ask Congress for an additional $1.35 billion for the program, which asks states to amend education laws and policies to compete for a share of the money.

Education policy is typically set at the state and local level, but the Race to the Top program is designed as an incentive for states to adopt some of Obama’s education priorities. The president has advocated linking teacher pay to student performance and allowing charter schools to compete with traditional school districts.

More than a dozen states have changed laws to comply with the competition requirements. Arizona laws already complied, but Brewer’s office is recommending that lawmakers make the state more competitive by strengthening a task force on performance-based pay for teachers and principals. She also wants Arizona to hire teachers who have specializations but not necessarily a teaching degree.

“We must stop our gate-keeping and open the doors to all qualified and skilled citizens who want to teach our children,” Brewer said in her State of the State speech last week.

Arizona’s program for performance-based pay, known as Career Ladder, is limited to 28 school districts. John Wright, president of the Arizona Education Association, said the program has been successful and that he supports any effort to expand it.

But he said Brewer’s efforts to expand alternative paths to teacher certification are a waste of time and money.

“I don’t see any data that indicates a need for new programs, given that we just graduated more than 800 midyear graduates from Arizona’s three university programs, and we don’t have jobs for them,” Wright said.

The program has only enough money for a handful of states chosen by Obama’s Education Department. The first of two rounds of award announcements is expected in April, and Obama has said not all states that apply will get money.

Arizona faces a $1.4 billion shortfall in the current $8.3 billion budget and a $3.2 billion gap for the fiscal year starting July 1.

Associated Press writers Paul Davenport in Phoenix and Darlene Superville in Washington, D.C., also contributed to this report.