John Fleischman, publisher of the Flash Report posted this Open Letter to Those Praising The Recently Signed 'Race to the Top' Legislation. While I usually agree with Jon on most issues, I think he understandably missed the most important point on this topic.

Dear Race To The Top Passage Enthusiast:

I recently saw your public statement proclaiming the great victory for California in the passage of "Race To The Top" education legislation, that brings our state's laws in compliance with federal guidelines, and making our state eligible for hundreds of millions of federal tax dollars.

On the micro level, I agree that this legislation positively impacts California's education system -- the substance of its contents are largely positive. At this level, it's good that we passed it -- and pleasant to see it pass over the objections of the California Teachers Association labor union.

That said, I ask you and all of my friends to consider that at the macro-level, the "Race To The Top" legislation passed out of Washington, D.C., represents the worst form of federal meddling into issues out of its purvey. Federal interference with state and local issues has become a big problem as our national government has ballooned to a size that would give even the most cynical founding fathers a coronary attack.

The United States Constitution reserves to the states and the people the right to deal with issues not specifically assigned to the federal government, which would include the issue of education. So Congress and the President pass these bills that promise big money as inducements to states to manipulate behavior that they cannot legislate. "Race To The Top" and "No Child Left Behind" are great examples of the federal politicians trying to tackle issues of concern, without regard to Constitutional boundaries.

The only reason we praise "Race To The Top" legislation, is that because in this instance the money being "offered" from the federal government is only available for policy changes that you and I think are good. Of course there are a great many more instances where federal funds (read: tax payers' dollars) are used as an inducement to get state and local governments to jump through hoops you and I would not like, nor the Constitution allow.

Frankly, it is equally wrong for the federal government to push policies like this on the states whether the underlying policies are good or bad. Simply put, it is wrong for federal politicians to use tax payers' money to 'buy' the ability to regulate state and local issues that they otherwise should have no say in.

First, let me say that I share Jon's frustration with the frequent intrusion of the Federal government into state responsibilities. Frankly, we've reached a very troubling point where the Federal government seems to believe it is the sole party responsible for determining what powers it has. I believe our founders would be spinning in their graves if they could see what we've done to their inspired document, our constitution.

Unfortunately, in the area of public education, I believe most state governments, particularly California, have abdicated their responsibility to their citizens to ensure that all children receive a high-quality public education. The education bureaucracy in California, which not only includes the immense California Department of Education (CDE), but also local school districts, California Teacher's Association (CTA), California Federation of Teachers (CFT), Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), California School Board Association (CSBA), California Association of School Business Officers (CASBO), and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) all have a vested interest in protecting the status quo in public education. They put the needs of adults before the needs of children. These organizations, particularly CTA, have huge political power in our state, which hinder any efforts to improve public education.

With virtually no efforts, beyond lip service, at reforming public education coming from state education leaders, unfortunately, the Federal government has stepped in once again to fill a void. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is probably the biggest and most recent example of Federal intrusion into the state responsibility of public education. The reality is that NCLB has been a good thing for California's schools. While it isn't perfect, it has focused public, political and media attention on achievement gaps and raising student achievement for all students. Even our State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell who has been in the pocket of CTA so long that he's nearly pocket lint, talks of the need to close achievement gaps and reform our state's schools.

I believe that the Race to the Top (RttT) program is really more of the same. It isn't perfect, but it has used the carrot approach to get states to do things they already should have been doing. It in essence has allowed politicians to hide behind the promise of Federal funds to go against their education bureaucracy masters such as CTA.

The two bills signed by the Governor SBX5 1 and SBX5 4 are not perfect. But they're the first genuine efforts at school reform that I've seen in years. Even if California never gets any of the $4.3B in funding from RttT, the changes to the education code are already in place. Local communities are talking about the possibility of parents coming together to force a local school district to take dramatic efforts to reform failing schools. Everyone knows that our current system allows school districts to ignore failing schools for years. In fact, they even get more money for doing so. Now, parents can band together and force change in at least 75 schools in our state.

Expanded public school choice will allow parents who have the good fortune to live near a good school district to move their students to a school where they'll receive a better education regardless of which neighborhood in which they reside.

So, while I share Jon's frustration over the ever expanding power of the Federal government, at least in the area of public education, they're forcing state education leaders to take some steps to improve public education for our youth. I'm encouraged and I look forward to seeing what comes of these changes. Hopefully, it will empower school districts and political leaders to step up to the plate and make real changes in our state's schools.