Illinois one of 16 'Race to the Top' school funding finalists

Suburban school districts got reason to hope for funding relief Thursday, but not much else.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that 16 states, including Illinois, have been selected as finalists in the federal Race to the Top education competition for stimulus money.

The news received a cautious welcome at a time when districts are dealing with mounting deficits and slashing their budgets in anticipation of state education cuts.

"If we end up getting it, we'll be pleased for any increased funding that may come as a result of it," Elgin Area School District U-46 spokesman Tony Sanders said.

U-46, which predicts a $48.6 million deficit in June, has announced it plans to slash at least $31 million from next year's budget. That number could grow by $19 million to $29 million if the state does not offer level education funding next year, officials have predicted.

Similarly, Indian Prairie District 204 officials believe the state's debt will force the district to make $12 million to $14 million in cuts. Superintendent Kathryn Birkett has said that likely will result in program cuts and the release of some nontenured teachers.

Race to the Top will reward $4.35 billion to states that promise to implement innovative education reform plans over two rounds. Those plans must feature several components: adopting higher learning standards, tracking individual performance comprehensively, tying teacher evaluations to student achievement, and turning around the lowest-performing schools.

President Obama has requested an additional $1.35 billion that, if approved, would create a third round of competition for states, as well as a district-specific competition.

Duncan said 41 states submitted an application in the first round. Illinois requested $510 million.

According to the Department of Education, panels of five peer reviewers independently read and scored each state's application last month. Department officials said scores will be posted on www.ed.gov.

If Illinois nets the funds in this first round, 50 percent would be allocated to districts that have signed on in support of the proposal. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, 361 of the state's 869 districts signed memorandums. More than 60 of those districts are in the suburbs.

Money would be distributed to districts based on numbers of low-income students and most heavily to schools that have been the lowest-performing on standardized tests in recent years.

Among the 181 designated "lowest performing" schools are Elgin, Larkin and Streamwood high schools in U-46, as well as Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville and Round Lake High School.

Barb Dill-Varga, Maine Township High School District 207's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said she believes Illinois will win funds in one of the two rounds.

"It's a great idea. Who can argue against it? The devil is going to be in the details."

The Illinois State Board of Education has a 38-page document that vaguely spells out what must happen if Illinois wins the funds.

"We're forced to take money and sign on for something that we don't know what the particulars of this are going to be," Dill-Varga said. "These are huge philosophical parameters that are underpinning this initiative that we might not disagree with in the larger sense but when they come down with the details, I don't know that we would agree."

State board spokeswoman Mary Fergus said Gov. Pat Quinn's office would be making a statement later today.

"It is great that we got this far. We're grateful for all the folks that were part of putting together our application - the districts as well as all the state management groups and teacher groups that worked on this application over several months," Fergus said.

The 16 finalists will present their proposals in front of a panel later this month. Winners will be announced in April.

Money: Devil's in the details, some say