Sometimes getting in the last word means waiting for hours, sitting through endless pontificating, and ending up nearly alone in a room with Rev. Senator James Meeks, chair of the Senate Education Committee. At least that's what happened to me today at the committee hearings on Illinois' Race to the Top proposal.

The gist of the meeting was that Advance Illinois, the charter school people, and our senators want us to get on the fast track and do whatever it takes to win an RTTT award (maybe get Oprah to sign on?), while ISBE and the educators in the room want to take the time to prepare a proposal that has "integrity" and is based on strategies that actually work.

ISBE Superintendent Chris Koch told the committee that the Dept. of Education received over 2000 comments on the RTTT, and that they are still digesting those comments - a positive sign, since so many of them challenged the soundness of RTTT's requirements for more charter schools and turnarounds, linking student test scores to teacher and principal evaluations, national standards and tests, and other questionable strategies. Koch thinks the December deadline for the first round of RTTT proposals may be pushed back a bit as a result of USDE's review of and response to those comments. 

He said that ISBE does not plan to move any legislative changes in the October veto session.

This seemed to frustrate committee member Kimberley Lightford, who kept referring to a handout from Advance Illinois listing about 20 legislative changes that should be made before Illinois' application is truly "competitive."

Aside from some veiled comments by Supt Koch that research on some of the RTTT strategies is "thin," I was the only person who mentioned the evidence of the failures of Illinois charter schools and CPS's R2010. I was the only one who talked about what happens to at risk students when charters and contract schools refuse to accept them or push them out.

Here's my written testimony, which I submitted but did not present.

Sen. Meeks' response to my comments was that he guessed that's why ISBE says this will take a while - because they have to listen to all sides including people like me who bring "data" to the table.

Well, I hope that's the case. We'll see.