Education reform's 'Race to the Top' features some non-starters

Louisiana's plan to take over and turn around low-performing schools isn't an esoteric policy concept. The state took over nearly 10 percent of its neediest schools, turning some into public charter schools and overhauling school leadership and faculty.

Mr. Duncan has been getting flak this week for calling Hurricane Katrina "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans," but he's right to praise the enormous progress there since 2005. New Orleans schools have seen significant growth in student achievement levels over the past three years, and the state has real lessons to apply to other struggling schools.

Most critically, the state is serious about enacting its plans. State Superintendent Paul Pastorek made participating school districts sign on to all of the requirements. This reduced participation far enough that only about half of the state's students would fall under the grant, a number that Pastorek finds reasonable. "We wanted people to know what they were getting themselves into," he told me. "We need 100 percent of the participants, 100 percent committed to the reforms."

The success of the Race to the Top program depends partially on the Education Department making smart choices with its grant awards and sending most states home empty-handed -- which Mr. Duncan has repeatedly promised to do.

For systemic change, though, local political leaders need to understand the difference between talk and action on education reform. Too many states are attempting to Amble to the Top with their reform plans. In April, a handful of states will walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars. The rest will have the chance to reapply for funding in June. That gives states five months to take a good hard look at the plans of their faster-moving peers -- and decide if they have the intestinal fortitude to join the race for real.

The writer, who is executive vice president of public affairs at Teach for America, won The Post's America's Next Great Pundit contest.