My problem with the Race to the top program is that it seems as though it is trying to get all states to buy into a one size fits all solution. Different states have different problems and different needs for their public education systems and while a national way of doing things might address the majority's problems, I worry too many will be left behind.
The Race to the top rewards states for expanding charter school programs. This is a classic one size fits all solution that fails to address the main problem in many states.
My academic life was saved by a charter school here in Walton County. And in this specific situation, the charter school has worked. The problem is in many places charter schools are not the solution, but Race to the Top still rewards them; thus punishing states that don't implement them.
One of the biggest problems in Texas public education today is the extremely fast growth of the Hispanic population in the southern part of the state. I think the legislature has worked admirably to try to find solutions to this problem that seems impossible to solve.
If this was in the Northeast instead of Texas, a good solution would be to open up charter schools. In the Northeast, a charter school can be opened and students can use public transportation to get there. The big problem with that is, even Texas's largest cities, the public transportation pales in comparison to the Northeast.
So because of public transportation, a great solution in the Northeast, does not work here in Texas. But Texas would need to implement more charter schools in order to compete for funding. That is why these national ways to fix education are so bogus; what works somewhere may not work somewhere else.
Just to add, Texas does have a very large charter school program, but its purpose is more to address inner-city problems rather than the southern growing population problem.
