Obama May Disqualify Some States From Education Stimulus Grants

Bloomberg reports:

The Obama administration may disqualify states such as New York, California and Wisconsin from seeking part of $4.35 billion in education stimulus funds unless they stop banning the use of student achievement data in teacher evaluations.

Under the draft proposal, states that refuse to permit student data in teacher compensation criteria will be prohibited from receiving so-called Race to the Top grants, according to a summary released today by the Education Department.

President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who have long pressed for merit-pay programs that reward teachers for gains in student performance, plan to announce the draft guidelines tomorrow. The nation’s largest teachers’ unions oppose linking pay to pupil achievement, saying test scores aren’t an accurate measure of teacher effectiveness.

The struggles of the Democratic party coalition.