Thursday, July 19, 2012 | 2:01 a.m.
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It’s a wise decision for the Clark County School District to forego federal Race to the Top grants.
For one thing, winning the grant would net the district possibly $25 million over five years. That’s, oh, 0.8 percent of the district’s annual budget. In exchange for this princely sum, the district would have to spend hundreds of man-hours crafting their application and begin submitting its local functions directly to federal evaluators.
The federal government provides the district with approximately 9 percent of its operating funds. The paperwork and compliance costs it requires in exchange is, if the district is similar to nationwide averages, one-third of all such busywork. The district’s decision should be a model for other large school districts nationwide, who are largely engaging in the folly of dancing to the federal piper’s tune.
The author is an education research fellow at the Heartland Institute.
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