After some criticism about their plans for the Rise to the Top program of grants to state education programs, the Obama administration has changed the rules, though relaxed is perhaps a better word. One main change is that states can now demonstrate that they have used innovations other than charter schools to alter the public education system; the emphasis on charter schools had bothered some people, including a few governors who will be applying for the money. The Department of Education also released a point system on how they'll grade the schools:"A perfect application would earn a state 500 points, with 125 points allotted for articulating a perfectly coherent agenda for change; 70 points for adopting higher standards and higher quality tests; 47 points for developing computerized systems to track student academic progress; 138 points for recruiting quality teachers, evaluating their effectiveness, and using the evaluations in tenure and other key decisions; 50 points for turning around failing schools; 30 points for other miscellaneous categories of change; and 40 points for fostering the growth of charter schools."Whether this will cool those critics who say this emphasizes standardized testing seems unlikely, but with a Democratic President enforcing the rules, it seems that they have very little recourse.
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