ACSA has expressed concerns to California Department of Education and State Board of Education representatives over the Race to the Top Memorandum of Understanding for LEAs and the yet-to-be-developed state RTT Plan.

Under the final RTT guidance, states will receive a greater preference depending on how many LEAs sign on to "all or a significant portion" of whatever the state plan looks like. In addition, LEAs that sign a binding MOU will receive a one-time portion of RTT funding, which at a minimum will be their current Title 1 share

ACSA has concerns over the short timeline on this issue. With few school districts holding board meetings in late December, it would be up to superintendents to sign such documents without their board’s approval. While the final RTT guidelines allow this, ACSA fears few superintendents would feel comfortable signing binding MOUs on their own.

"This is frustrating for many superintendents who on the one hand want to consider RTT but on the other do not wish to blindly enter into an agreement with so little time and so little tangible information," wrote ACSA Legislative Advocate Sherry Skelly Griffith in a letter to the State Board and CDE. "We hope you can respect that this is a very different process than most federal grants and language is used in the guidelines that causes many local leaders to thoughtfully weigh and balance their commitments."

Rather, during a meeting Dec. 4, ACSA superintendents developed several recommendations, which ACSA predicts would result in a greater level of participation by LEAs if accepted:

1. If the deadline remains short, the only reasonable option is a Letter of Intent rather than a binding MOU. A Letter of Intent can be signed by a superintendent but would not result in legal challenge that could be posed by a binding MOU.

2. If a Letter of Intent is rejected, then language must be included in the final California MOU that ensures a "hold harmless" clause, including the following:

•LEAs will not be required to implement any portion of the RTT MOU if California is not awarded the grant. (This would be explicit rather than assumed.)

•LEAs will not be required to implement any portion of the California State RTT Plan they have not seen in writing prior to the signing of the MOU.

•The MOU will define in writing what commitment to implement "all or significant portions of the state plan" means.

•The MOU will define explicitly what "binding" means to the state.

•Statutory requirements and changes will be explicitly stated in the MOU that must be followed.

3. District superintendents shall be provided the final or final draft state RTT plan when they receive the MOU, so they may share with their local governing board prior to agreeing to implement "all or a significant portion" of the final plan. This shall include any corresponding legislation passed that is part of the final plan.

4. The deadline for submitting the LEA Preliminary RTT MOUs or Letter of Intent shall be no earlier than Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 at 5 p.m.

This still allows the state to meet the Jan. 19 deadline, and since the submission does not include the full MOU but rather a chart of participating LEAs, this is entirely reasonable. Ideally, there would be more time. ACSA believes this is an absolute minimum.

ACSA will keep its members informed of the latest developments. Click here for ACSA updates on legislative issues.