SC could get education stimulus funds

State Department of Education leaders say they will apply for a portion of $4 billion in federal stimulus money for school reform available to states, and they think they have a shot at getting it.

The U.S. Department of Education isn't yet accepting applications for the money, which will be available through a competitive federal grant program called Race to the Top. But when it does, it will favor states that support charter schools and that have put in place programs that tie teachers' pay to their students' academic performance. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has control over which states will get the money, and it could go to as few as 10 to 20 states.

Betsy Carpentier,the state's deputy superintendent for education, said South Carolina has several key strategies already in place that could help it land a grant including:

• high academic standards
• the governor's support to join a multi-state initiative for uniform standards
• highly qualified and effective teachers equally dispersed among different types of schools
• a solid charter school program and efforts to make those schools more effective
• a pilot pay-for-performance program for teachers

"All of these are things I think will give our proposal a leg-up over other states," Carpentier said. If South Carolina gets a grant, she said, half of the money will go implementing reform programs statewide, and half will go to school districts that agree to participate in reform efforts.

The most controversial attribute the federal government is looking for in states to which it will award money is likely the pay-for-performance programs for teachers.

National teachers unions oppose basing teacher's pay on their students' performance on standardized tests and say student achievement is much more than a test score.

Read more in Sunday's editions of The Post and Courier.