CTA anticipated some fundamental changes in federal education policy, priorities and funding with the arrival of the Obama administration. For the preceding 8 years, the needs of struggling schools and underserved students were ignored while the platitude of No Child Left Behind was considered an adequate substitute for genuine reform.

Unfortunately, the Race to the Top (RTTT) proposal reveals that this administration is repeating the past mistakes of NCLB, including an over-reliance on test scores as an accurate measure of student achievement and support for interventions that do not have a track record of success, such as unregulated charter schools and compensation tied to test scores. RTTT may be a voluntary application process, but the priorities and criteria in the proposal privilege certain past and future actions by state and local educational agencies and hold them hostage by their purse strings.

At the annual NEA Representative Assembly last July, CTA delegates voted "No Confidence" in RTTT. CTA recommended that local chapters not sign the Round Two Memorandum of Understanding that went out to Local Education Agencies, citing major concerns.

In these difficult times every dollar counts, but CTA believes all students should have an opportunity for a quality education. Schools shouldn't be subjected to a race with winners and losers, and criterion to receive the funding shouldn't place emphasis on tying evaluation to test scores.