AEI Scholars Andy Smarick and Frederick Hess on the Announcement that Delaware and Tennessee Have Been Selected by the U.S. Department of Education as Race to the Top Winners

"Both states had all or virtually all of their unions and districts in support of their proposals. If unanimous support of establishment organizations is required, other states are placed in a difficult position."

--Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education and AEI Adjunct Fellow Andy Smarick

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2010

This morning the Department of Education announced Delaware and Tennessee as the winners of the first round of Race to the Top--the Obama administration’s $4.35 billion grant competition and the largest ever federal education initiative of its kind.

AEI adjunct fellow Andy Smarick, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of education for planning, evaluation, and policy development, joined AEI director of education policy studies Frederick M. Hess in applauding the Department of Education for selecting only two states, thus fulfilling Secretary Arne Duncan's promise to set a "very, very high bar" for states applying for these funds. Time and time again, Smarick and Hess have called for prudent and cautious selectivity in choosing the competition's winners.

"The Department of Education deserves praise for naming only two states--Delaware and Tennessee--as winners in round one of Race to the Top," said Hess. "After the fiasco of first naming sixteen finalists in round one, this was a necessary and crucial bit of discipline."

Drawing on his extensive detailed work on Race to the Top, Smarick points out that while both Delaware and Tennessee had good applications, unlike the favored-to-win Florida and Louisiana, both winning states had strong support from "stakeholders"—i.e., from local education agencies, teachers' unions, and school boards.

"The most striking element is how important 'stakeholder support' turned out to be. Both states had all or virtually all of their unions and districts in support of their proposals. If unanimous support of establishment organizations is required, other states are placed in a difficult position," said Smarick. "The states of Florida, Louisiana, and Rhode Island, which put together bold and ambitious plans but had limited union sign-on, have to wonder, ‘What reforms do we give up in order to get our stakeholders to support the plan?'"

"This development also gives teachers' unions, school districts, and local education agencies veto power over their state's proposals. If a state adds an element with which they disagree, these organizations can simply say, 'Unless you change that provision, we won’t sign on and you won’t win.'"

Hess added, "I'll be very curious to see Duncan explain why bold and action-backed applications from Florida and Louisiana lost out to proposals most notable for their 100 percent support by local education agencies. Placing this much weight on 'stakeholder support' will feed cynicism about the sincerity of Duncan’s calls for bold, transformative change."

For more on Andy Smarick and Frederick Hess's thoughts on the Race to the Top announcement, visit The Enterprise Blog at http://blog.american.com.

Andy Smarick and Frederick Hess are available for interview and can be contacted at smarick@hotmail.com or rhess@aei.org, or through their assistant Jenna Schuette at jenna.schuette@aei.org (202.862.5809). For additional media inquiries, please contact Sara Huneke at sara.huneke@aei.org (202.862.4870).

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