Governor Schwarzenegger at the Press Conference

Date: Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Time: 1:00pm – 1:45pm*
*Arrive by 12:30pm for check-in purposes

Location: Sixth Avenue Elementary School – Library
3109 Sixth Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90018
(South of the 10 Freeway, just North of Jefferson
Blvd. between Crenshaw & Arlington)




On July 24, President Obama and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced federal eligibility and competitiveness requirements for states to compete for $4.35 billion in Race to the Top funding, the single largest pool of discretionary funding for education reform in U.S. history. Building on his commitment to ensure California gets every possible dollar from the federal economic stimulus package during this national economic downturn, the Governor called a special session of the legislature and announced a legislative package to ensure California is eligible and highly competitive for this funding. We have 60 days to qualify.


Senate Bill X5 1 (Romero, Huff, Alquist, and Wyland)
Race to the Top Education Reforms

http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sbx5_1&sess=CUR&house=B&author=romero

FACT SHEET
Staff Contact: Jackie Kinney (916) 651-4024
jacqueline.kinney@sen.ca.gov

President Obama Challenges States to Pursue Innovative Strategies to Reform Public Education
The $4.35 billion Race to the Top program provides an opportunity for California school districts to choose
to partner with the state and receive federal grant funds to implement innovative strategies to improve public
education. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is seeking applications from eligible states with ambitious and
comprehensive plans to implement systemic reforms at the local level. The overarching goal is to improve
academic achievement among all students and especially to provide new hope and opportunity to highpoverty
communities with the lowest-performing schools, highest dropout rates, least support for effective
teaching, and most challenging learning environments. Secretary Duncan has discretion to award grants to
states based on 19 selection criteria related to a state’s current progress and plans for implementing reforms.
California is a leader in certain reforms, such as using data for continuous improvement in student learning,
with Secretary Duncan recognizing data systems that Garden Grove and Long Beach have implemented in
collaboration with their teachers and school communities. These and other districts could join in the state’s
application and get funds to replicate the success of similar reforms aimed at improving student learning.

But to meet eligibility requirements and match up against other states on the 19 competitive criteria,
California must make several changes in state law to provide a statutory framework for the state to develop a
comprehensive plan with partnering school districts that choose to participate.
SBX5 1 Makes California Eligible AND Competitive for a Race to the Top Grant
SBX5 1 would make the necessary changes in state law to ensure that California is both eligible and
competitive for a Race to the Top grant. This bi-partisan measure not only removes the so-called “firewall”
prohibiting use of student data in teacher evaluations, but also provides for turning around California’s
historically low-performing schools, authorizes greater use of data to improve instruction and student
performance, removes the cap on the number of charter schools, authorizes open enrollment options for
students stuck in low-performing schools, and requires a state plan to implement other reforms that greatly
increase California’s chances for a grant.

SBX5 1 Maximizes Federal Dollars for California
SBX5 1 positions California to get the maximum amount of federal funding to support school districts that
agree to implement reforms early, such as improving use of data to support instruction, developing a system
to use student growth as one of multiple measures of teacher effectiveness, and directly intervening to turn
around the persistently lowest-performing schools. Without changes made by SBX5 1, California risks
losing not only $500 million or more in a Race to the Top grant; the Legislative Analyst predicts that other
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federal funds under the stimulus bill and possibly billions in ongoing federal funds for public education are
likely at risk if California does not make real progress toward implementing these reforms. Most recently,
new proposed regulations for School Improvement Grants require states to adjust policies and set priorities to
distribute funds to school districts that commit to turning around the lowest-performing schools using the
same strategies that also are required in Race to the Top.

SBX5 1 Provides New Public School Options for Students in the Lowest-Performing Schools
In order to build on the public school options for students and parents already established in federal law and
by the state’s District of Choice program, SBX5 1 would provide students in the state’s lowest-performing
schools the option to attend another public school outside of their district’s ZIP code assigned school. This
enhances California’s competitive position for a Race to the Top grant and, most significantly, ensures that
no California child is denied access to a quality education based on his or her ZIP code.
Additional Information
SB X5 1 – For the full text of the bill, click here.

http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sbx5_1&sess=CUR&house=B&author=romero

Race to the Top Guidelines -- For an Executive Summary of Race to the Top guidelines and what states
should do to be competitive for a grant, click here. Additional information is available here.
Federal Funding at Risk -- For a report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office on how billions in federal dollars
for California’s K-12 schools are likely to be linked to the state’s progress in implementing the President’s
education reform priorities, click here.

School Improvement Grants Require Race to the Top Strategies -- Proposed federal rules for distributing
School Improvement Grants require the same strategies for turning around the lowest-performing schools
that are required in Race to the Top. For the proposed rules, click here.

Linking Reform Progress to Federal Funds – Proposed rules for Phase 2 of State Fiscal Stabilization Funds
require states to collect and report data on 33 measures of progress in implementing education reforms,
which the federal government claims it will use when allocating federal education funds. To see the data
requirements, click here.

The Four Reforms -- To review speeches by Secretary Duncan on the four education reforms, click below.
Secretary Duncan has spoken on the need to:
· Adopt rigorous standards that prepare students for success in college and the workforce (2009
Governors Education Symposium)
· Recruit and retain effective teachers, especially in classrooms where they’re needed most (National
Education Association annual conference)
· Build data systems to track student achievement and teacher effectiveness (ED’s Institute of
Education Sciences annual conference)
· Turn around low-performing schools (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Conference)