by Andy Barr
Politico.com
1/14/10
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is not applying for up to $700 million in federal stimulus dollars for his state’s education fund.
Perry made the announcement in a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan sent Wednesday. The money would be available via the federal Race to the Top program, which will provide $4.35 billion in grants to states that take certain steps intended to raise academic standards, such as performance pay for teachers and principals, loosening caps on the number of charter schools, and building long-term student tracking systems.
In his letter, Perry said it would be “foolish” to accept the funds – arguing that it would too firmly tie his state’s hands on education.
“I will not commit Texas taxpayers to unfunded federal obligations or to the adoption of unproven, cost-prohibitive national curriculum standards and tests,” Perry wrote. “Texas is on the right path toward improved education, and we would be foolish and irresponsible to place our children’s future in the hands of unelected bureaucrats and special interest groups thousands of miles away in Washington, virtually eliminating parents’ participation in their children’s education.”
“If Washington were truly concerned about funding education with solutions that match local challenges, they would make the money available to states with no strings attached,” he said.
Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott said he “overwhelmingly” supports Perry’s move in a statement, though the reaction has been mixed among some school officials in the state.
Perry has been one of the most outspoken critics of the $787 billion stimulus program President Barack Obama shepherded through Congress last year, accusing Obama of being “hell-bent” on turning the United States into a socialist country in November.
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