RALEIGH -- Reality shows aren't exactly my cup of tea. Still, I confess to getting caught up in "The Amazing Race" competition, especially when two teammates who should be working toward a common goal are at each other's throat. You know the deal. While the tough, bodybuilding dudes squabble over the best technique for loading tires into a pick-up truck, two puny gals win the challenge.
Such episodes are good for a laugh, plus they teach a valuable lesson about the importance of working together.
Now that North Carolina has failed in the first round of the Race to the Top federal funding initiative, the lesson of togetherness is one that leaders must take to heart. By selecting Delaware and Tennessee as the only two winners, the Obama administration sent a message about working in unison. Both of the winning states won support from organizations that traditionally work to hamper reform - the teachers unions and local school boards.
The Race to the Top scoring rubric awards anywhere from 55-95 points for the signatures and "support from a broad group of stakeholders," including teachers unions and school boards. As The Wall Street Journal reported last week, states such as Florida, which arguably have made much greater strides in innovation, were excluded from the first round due to a lack of union support.
While North Carolina is still reeling from its Race to the Top failure, how is the education establishment here responding? By remaining stubborn in its opposition to necessary reform measures such as lifting the arbitrary cap on public charter schools. What a shame.
In its rejection of North Carolina's application, the U.S. Department of Education made clear that the state must go back to the drawing board and demonstrate more innovative ways to improve conditions for charter schools and to narrow the achievement gap. As one of the federal reviewers of North Carolina's application commented, the charter school cap of 100 schools "is too limited a cap to provide enough charters in such a large state."
But when it comes to strengthening charters and closing the achievement gap, lifting the arbitrary cap is only part of the solution.
The state also must re-examine existing funding and accountability policies to ensure that traditional public schools and public charters are treated more equally.
Furthermore, leaders must address performance policies that hinder the innovative ability of charter schools to focus on at-risk, academically and economically disadvantaged students - the very students whose performance is tied to the state's achievement gap.
Thinking outside the charter school box, the state should look to places like Milwaukee, where means-tested opportunity scholarships have helped close the achievement gap and improve the graduation rate for inner-city students, while saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
Parental choice policies long have been opposed by the education establishment, which traditionally views competition as a threat to the status quo. But with millions of federal dollars at stake, North Carolina cannot afford to put politics ahead of education any longer.
The dust has settled on the first round of the Race to the Top, and we're still at the starting line. Everyone agrees that North Carolina needs the funding; that much is clear. Now, let's work together to create meaningful reform policies that will improve education and position the state more competitively, not only in the second leg of the race but for years to come.
Darrell Allison is president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.
