New York just significantly increased its chances of winning in round two of Race to the Top.
First, the legislature raised the charter school cap from 200 to 460, enabling the state's application to garner precious additional points. See coverage by the NYT and WSJ. The Daily News also?provides some details on the tough negotiations.
Not everything in the legislation was great, for example a ban on private sector operators, which will have the effect of limiting innovation. But according to folks inside New York City Public Schools, the mayor and chancellor are very pleased with the results: the cap got raised, the city can continue to endorse charter applications,?charters can still co-locate with traditional public schools; SUNY can still authorize; and neighborhoods in the city (like Harlem) won't face a ?saturation? cap.
Second, there's new legislation that will link student learning gains to teachers. This is another area of the RTT application where NY suffered in round one.
New York came in 15th last time, next-to-last among finalists. If the state writes a bold proposal making full use of these new laws, it stands to score considerably higher, possibly even in the money.
?Andy Smarick