In the highly competitive federal Race to the Top — the grant program that holds the promise of up to $40 million over four years to school districts — this city’s teachers union did its best to undercut Glendale Unified’s application.
And by most accounts, it worked.
But in this competition, there are only losers, including one group that had no player on the field: students.
Over the course of several weeks and several rounds of negotiations, the Glendale Teachers Assn. played rough, refusing to sign onto the grant application for a number of reasons.
The union’s first play involved apprehension over the federal grant’s requirement that student test scores be factored into teacher job evaluations. Union leaders then tapped the playbook of their counterparts in Los Angeles by claiming the one-time infusion of grant money would, after being exhausted, saddle the school district with more expenses, thereby worsening the financial picture.
