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Editor's note: The following is an editorial by House Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Township).

Amid one of the worst recessions in decades, our schools are reeling from devastating cuts created by a terrible economy and declining revenues. These tough times are threatening our children's opportunity to get the quality education that they deserve.

While there are some things we can do to soften the blow suffered by our schools we must be careful not to rush reforms simply in the name of winning a funding race.

The federal government's "Race to the Top" program offers more than $4 billion in competitive grant money for states leading the way in reforms and raising student achievement. To beat out other states for the funding, those states must be willing to make additional improvements to their education system.

While I support this concept, I am encouraging my colleagues and educational leaders to be sure that these reforms truly help our students and improve our schools. The reforms instituted will persist well after the federal funding is gone, so we need to be sure we're making changes we will still want years down the road.

With our current fiscal crisis, we must look to position Michigan to receive any available funding. However, before acting, we must be sure that the federal dollars available through "Race to the Top" will help make Michigan a leader in education reform, put money back into our classrooms and help turn around failing schools. While fighting for this funding seems like a no-brainer, we must be sure to use the proper caution because our children are involved. Currently, committees in both the House and the Senate are working to help position Michigan for these grants.

The "Race to the Top" program asks states to push school reform by:

    • Adopting standards that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in a global economy;

    • Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;

    • Recruiting, developing, rewarding and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and

    • Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

While these are all good goals, I simply want to be sure that the reforms we enact will not harm our schools in anyway by creating cumbersome bureaucracy, replacing proven teaching practices or robbing our children of valuable instructional time with our educators. Long-term reforms need to be worthwhile even after the federal funding runs out.

When times are as difficult as they are now, we must keep our commitment to our children and our future. Part of this commitment involves fully evaluating reforms to education before implementing them to be sure they serve our children's best interests. We can't look to solve today's fiscal problems at the expense of our children and their education. And we can't dash into quick fixes just to secure more funding. I will continue to look for every source of funding available to help schools educate our children, but will do so only when the reforms tied to the funding improve education.

House Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Township) can be contacted by phone at (517) 373-0828 or toll-free at (800) 645-1581. Her e-mail address is pambyrnes@house.mi.gov and her Web site is byrnes.housedems.com.

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