President Obama's agenda on education, now picking up steam, wants, uniform curriculum standards for all the schools across the entire nation. The National Governors Association, along with the president, has this new initiative going, for the common curriculum. States that participate in this initiative and others that have to do with encouraging charter schools, raising standards, giving teachers better education and training, get a share of the $4 billion financial aid for school districts the federal government plans to hand out. It's supposed to be very exciting, a competition among all the states, known as the Race to the Top. Well, Texas stands to gain $700 million out of it, but they're not holding a hand out anymore. Texas has a great example to follow too - Alaska from last year. And they're not just thumbing their nose at Washington for this; there have been other people involved, lots of Texas state education board officials have put in hundreds of hours of labor into the contest application, and Bill Gates' foundation all of has been working hard and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in getting Texas ready for the race.
So how did all this happen, and why doesn't Texas want financial aid for school districts across the state that are obviously struggling? Texas Gov. Rick Perry to begin with, resents that the federal government sitting far away in Washington, should have anything to say in how Texas should educate its children at all. And then the prize money that is on offer, the $700 million, seems like chump change too. It would only cover the education system's expenses for about two days of the year. Why would any state, let go of even a modicum of control, for what amounts to two days' expenses? Texas education commissioner only a short time ago couldn't stop giving interviews that he would really wish to see his state make the grade for the grant. So what could have happened in the intervening couple of months that he should not want any grants anymore? There have been interviews in which the Commissioner, Robert Scott, says that he didn't realize before that $700 million was only two days' expenses. No one was particularly happy with this; after all the effort put into it.
Actually, teachers unions in the country, stand with the boycotts too. There's always a sneaking feeling to these grants they say, that the aim is to one day make the Texas education system so dependent on aid, that they will be forced to accept nationwide standardized tests for their students. Teachers these days really feel that standardized tests are not good for children, their growth or their chances in life. But what can you say? Houston alone has tens of thousands of children in the school system who can't read adequately; a little money would always be a big help.