Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Gov. Rick Perry announced Wednesday that Texas will not compete in the U.S. Department of Education's much-touted Race to the Top program, leaving as much as $700 million on the table that could've been spent in Texas classrooms.

Perry made the announcement Wednesday in Houston with Commissioner of Education Robert Scott at his side. Both have been critical of the program, which pushes states to adopt education reform principles that are likely to be the cornerstone for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act in exchange for $4 billion in federal funding.

Several San Antonio school leaders were disappointed with the news, saying state leaders shouldn't turn their backs on federal money with the budget shortages Texas school districts are facing.

“I think we need to consider any funding for schools considering our current situation,” said Robert Durón, superintendent of San Antonio Independent School District. “Every opportunity to receive more money needs to be pursued.”

Based on its size, Texas could have qualified for about $350 million to $700 million — or $75 to $150 per student.

But Perry said Texas “reserves the right to decide how we educate our children and not surrender that control to the federal bureaucracy.”

Perry's objections seem to center on the fact that the grant rules give preference to states that sign on to a push for national curriculum standards. Perry and Scott have been critical of the Common Core Standards Initiative, a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers with support from the Department of Education. Texas and Alaska are the only two states that have not joined the initiative.

The idea is to create common standards for math and English in kindergarten through 12th grade across states. Currently, while all states are required to test students in grades 3 through 11 in math and English, states set their own standards, which vary wildly.

In a letter last month to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Scott called the effort “a step toward a federal takeover of the nation's public schools.”

John Folks, superintendent of Northside ISD, San Antonio's largest school district, agrees that public education is a state matter, but he's not opposed to a national discussion on standards.

“I understand that we want to teach Texas history, but does Algebra I in Texas differ from Algebra I in Maine? It shouldn't,” he said. “I think we should be involved in the process of deciding those standards.”

Folks added that the Department of Education already controls huge sums of money that flow to districts for disabled students and poor students. Districts must comply with the No Child Left Behind Act to receive that money.

“So where is the federal takeover,” Folks said.

In North East ISD where officials have declared a state of financial exigency and are looking at cutting popular programs like the North East School of the Arts, the grant money could've meant anywhere from $4.9 to $9.7 million.

“We're disappointed,” said Alicia Thomas, North East's associate superintendent. “North East and many districts in the state are facing very tight budgets and we could've benefited from that additional revenue.”

Like Folks, Thomas also disagrees with the decision to stay out of the discussion on national standards.

“We are working to prepare our students to be ready to be part of a global economy,” Thomas said. “It might be helpful to have some best practices established across the country. Texas has something to add to that conversation.”

The deadline for the grant application is Tuesday and Texas Education Agency staff has already spent 700 to 800 hours working on it, according to agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe.

Also, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave the state $250,000 to hire a consultant to help with the application.

A year ago, Commissioner Scott told lawmakers Texas had a good chance of landing some of the money.

“Texas is very well-positioned in terms of the work we've done over the past several years to take advantage of this,” Scott told a legislative committee in March. “We can bring to completion some of the reform work we've been working on.”

The Texas Classroom Teachers Association and the Texas-American Federation of Teachers had urged Perry and Scott not to apply for Race to the Top.

“It's hard to justify the adoption of policies that we think are detrimental to Texas for such a minimal investment,” said Linda Bridges, president of Texas-AFT.

Bridges said the grant encouraged “draconian” measures to fix struggling schools, such as closing them. She also disagreed with its call to link student test scores to high-stakes personnel decisions.