Powered by Best in Class (Coming Soon!).The 16 winners will receive four-year awards that range from $10 million to $40 million, depending on the number of students served through the plan. The Department of Education received 372 applications for this first grant competition. to find qualified teachers to teach the rigorous math and science-centered curriculum that is the foundation of our schools," according to its website. "Harmony Public Schools must recruit both inside and outside of the U.S. Department of Education has documented a national shortage of such teachers. The school group says it only hires international teachers when there is not enough highly qualified math and science teachers available in the application pool. citizens under the federal H-1B visa program. Harmony Public Schools has been criticized for hiring too many teachers who are not U.S. "We are eager to use the grant money to further personalize the way each student uses time, receives support to master essential skills, and deepens understanding of content." "We are thrilled and honored to be named a winner of the Race to the Top-District competition," said Harmony Public Schools Superintendent Soner Tarim in a news release. The first school opened in Houston in 2000 and has been consistently top-rated as Exemplary by the Texas Education Agency. The Harmony Public Schools group was founded by the nonprofit Cosmos Foundation, Turkish professionals with ties to Texas. "They give the teachers a little more flexibility on how they get that curriculum taught." "We have the state requirements that everybody else has," Crowley said. Students at HSA-Lubbock wear uniforms but also must take the same statewide exams as other public school students. The group has 28 schools serving the Rio Grande Valley and Central Texas.Ĭharter schools are public schools that operate under a contract with the state of Texas and are financed by the state but cannot collect a share of local property tax, cannot charge tuition and cannot teach religion. The only other Race to the Top-District winner from Texas is also a charter consortium, IDEA Public Schools. "We collaborate with businesses in town and we do a lot of stuff with Texas Tech University." "We focus on science, technology, math and engineering," she said. "The Race to the Top-District grantees have shown tremendous leadership though developing plans that will transform the learning environment and enable students to receive a personalized, world-class education."ĭ'Ann Crowley, dean of students at HSA-Lubbock, said the campus is an open enrollment charter school with 483 students. "Districts have been hungry to drive reform at the local level, and now these winners can empower their school leaders to pursue innovative ideas where they have the greatest impact: in the classroom," said U.S. The Harmony group will receive a grant of about $30 million to implement its local reform plans. "We look forward to using this valuable grant money to support our exceptional students as they work to master essential skills and deepen their understanding of content." "We are honored to be among the select group announced as the Race to the Top-District winners," Harmony Science Academy-Lubbock Principal Mehmet Bayar said in an email. Department of Education on Tuesday named 16 winners to share nearly $400 million in grant money to support locally developed plans to improve student learning, teacher effectiveness, close achievement gaps for special populations of students and prepare students for college and careers. Harmony Public Schools, a consortium of 38 Texas public charter schools including Harmony Science Academy-Lubbock, has been named a winner of the first federal Race to the Top-District competition.
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