Pawlenty won't go after federal education grant

By CHRIS WILLIAMS

ST. PAUL, Minn.

Minnesota won't apply for millions of dollars in federal education grants, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Wednesday, saying the powerful state teacher's union used its influence to block changes needed for the state to write a competitive application.

The update on the "Race to the Top" funds had been expected after the Legislature adjourned Monday without passing the reforms sought by Pawlenty and Education Commissioner Alice Seagren. Both had said the state wouldn't apply for the $175 million in grants without the changes.

Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, opposed many of the changes and aired commercials in the final days of the session against a provision that would allow new college graduates to become teachers with less training than currently required. It claimed that permitting that would dilute the quality of teaching in the state.

"They continue to put the interests of union members before school children," Pawlenty said Wednesday.

Minnesota applied in the first round of funding, but didn't receive any money from the $4.35 billion program meant to encourage innovative programs to boost student achievement. The deadline to apply for the second round is June 1.

Education Minnesota President Tom Dooher called Pawlenty's decision to opt out of the second round a "great disservice to the state of Minnesota" and asked him to reconsider. He disagreed that state law had to change for Minnesota to write a competitive application and said repackaging existing policies would do.

Dooher called the Pawlenty administration's proposals "gimmicks" that wouldn't address Minnesota's persistent achievement gap between white and minority students. He answered the governor's criticism of union priorities by saying, "What's good for kids is what is good for teachers."

In the first round of grants, Minnesota lost points in several areas, including what's called alternative pathways to teaching. But the state also came up short in linking teacher pay and performance with student test scores and giving the education commissioner more authority to intervene in struggling schools.

Seagren said that without changes to state law, Minnesota wouldn't get any more points in a second application and would probably fare worse against other states that have since passed laws to improve their chances of winning funding.

The federal evaluators also put a lot of weight on local support, making it difficult for an application to do well in the competition without the endorsement of teachers unions. Among the handful of other states that have said they will not apply again, many cited union opposition.

Pawlenty predicted the education reforms would eventually make it into law because they have broad national support. "I guarantee that these things, or things like it, will happen in Minnesota," he said.