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Yesterday morning, Governor Pawlenty and his Education Commissioner, Alice Seagrean, shifted even more blame on anyone but themselves for failing to pull down federal “Race to the Top” money. They also neatly side-stepped their role in expanding Minnesota’s educational crisis.

Minnesota applied for but did not receive federal educational funds under President Obama’s “Race to the Top” initiative, a fund to drive systemic state educational change. Only Delaware, coincidently the home of Vice President Joe Biden, and Tennessee were awarded money in the first funding round.

Governor Pawlenty wasted little time laying Minnesota’s funding failure at the feet of Education Minnesota, the Minnesota teachers’ union. Tuesday, he returned to that theme.

And, there’s the problem. Bashing participants makes meaningful discussion and planning difficult. The US Department of Education’s evaluation reveals this problem. It dinged Minnesota’s application for lack of cooperation between key educational stakeholders. Governor Pawlenty is encouraging Minnesota to interpret this as Education Minnesota’s fault but the reverse is true. The Pawlenty administration has created the distrust uncovered in Minnesota’s application.

Pawlenty’s contribution to Minnesota’s educational tradition has been defunding schools and undermining public confidence in Minnesota’s school culture. He blames teachers for the conditions that his policy fosters.

Perhaps “Race to the Top” will drive systemic change in traditionally underperforming states but Minnesota isn’t one of them. I’m not convinced that RttT’s multi-tentacled requirements will actually help Minnesota. We’re being asked to, in effect, throw the baby out with the bath water when all we need is some more warm water.

Watch the Pawlenty/Seagren press conference and decide for yourself but you could also just take my word for it: Governor Pawlenty is blaming everyone but himself for a problem that he’s creating.

http://www.mn2020hindsight.org/?p=4285