[StBernard] Louisiana school systems apply for $120 million in federal government grants

[Westley Annis]

I wonder how much of these grants will be tied to that Common Core garbage?



-----Original Message-----
Louisiana school systems apply for $120 million in federal government grants
Print Danielle Dreilinger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Danielle
Dreilinger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Email the author | Follow on
Twitter on October 08, 2013 at 5:55 PM, updated October 08, 2013 at 5:59 PM

Six Louisiana entrants have applied for approximately $120 million in
federal education funds through the Race to the Top District program: the
Avoyelles, Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parish
school systems and the District Cooperative of Louisiana, a 14-district
entity that includes the St. John the Baptist, West Baton Rouge and Zachary
school systems. Grant winners must improve personalized teaching techniques
that meet every student where they are academically, in part through the use
of technology.

More than 200 districts and collaborative groups applied for an anticipated
five to 10 grants. Applications were due Oct. 3, despite the federal
shutdown.

Explaining the priority, U.S. Education Department staff wrote in a handout,
"Educators want a way to inspire and challenge those students who are
furthest ahead, provide targeted help and assistance to those furthest
behind, and engage fully and effectively with the students in the middle."

In St. Bernard, administrators hope for around $16 million over 4 years for
teacher training and to put more computers in classrooms, said Assistant
Superintendent Beverly Lawrason. The computers are needed for new online
tests that go into effect next year, but also would give students more
opportunities to conduct research independently.

Additionally, the district would improve mentorship opportunities for
struggling eighth-graders and strengthen its partnership with Louisiana
State University to bring more psychiatry graduate students into the
schools.

"It's pretty straightforward -- nothing real big, razzle-dazzle," Lawrason
said.

Plaquemines is requesting more than $5 million to create intervention
programs and accelerated pathways for students who otherwise might not make
it through, said Alberta Cousson, director of secondary education.

The two primary proposed initiatives would let high school students earn
credit for class hours they've missed via a partly online "twilight school,"
and allow teens to simultaneously earn a high school diploma and an
associate's degree in process technology for petroleum-industry jobs.

Louisiana was awarded a $17 million state-level Race to the Top grant in
late 2011. The funds have gone toward implementing the state's Compass
teacher evaluation system and the Common Core academic standards, increasing
the number of Advanced Placement courses and improving instruction in
science, technology, engineering and math.

Forty-seven of Louisiana's 60-plus districts receive funding under the state
grant, covering about one third of the state's public K-12 students,
according to a federal progress report.

Like the state competition, the district awards require that school systems
measure their students' progress on common standards for college- and career
readiness. That requirement has helped drive adoption of the Common Core
standards that are now causing a furor.

This is the second year district awards are available. Jefferson Parish
applied unsuccessfully last year.

Lawrason acknowledged that the St. Bernard Parish district's application is
a long shot. "I'm not losing a lot of sleep over it," she said, but
"somebody's got to be in the 10."

Winners are expected to be announced in December.