LAWTON, Okla_Lawton is one of 13 school districts in Oklahoma that will be applying for a piece of $400 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Education. 893 school districts nationwide, including five in Southwest Oklahoma, have said they intend to apply for 'Race to the Top' funds from the federal government.
There is no guarantee that Lawton will get any money from the program and Superintendent Barry Beauchamp said he expects that the largest school districts in the country will have an advantage.
The "Race to the Top" program has already awarded more than $4 billion to schools in 18 states. Lawton Public Schools would love to get a piece of the action.
"This is a huge source with $400 million involved in the total grant. However, it's a nationwide grant so $400 million pales a little bit when you consider how thinly it possibly could be spread."
The program has several objectives, among them is to personalize the learning environment for students to keep them more engaged in class. The concept makes sense, keep students engaged and they will learn more. It sounds good on paper, but it may not so easy to accomplish in the classroom.
"We're trying to get the best each student has to offer out of them, knowing from the get go that each student is different. There are going to be students that have tremendous rigor in order to be challenged."
He said not all students are the same but you can't lower the bar, teachers need to push so that every student learns to the best of their ability. If Lawton receives the grant money Beauchamp said they'll use it to train teachers.
"The best way to change what happens in the classroom is to improve the skills and abilities of the teacher in that classroom. They will then change the students in that classroom."
Just one or two teachers can make a big impact in a young person's life. Beauchamp's desire to use the money from the federal government so more teachers in Lawton are better prepared to engage students makes sense. The question is will Lawton get the funds? Right now, nobody knows.
In addition to Lawton, the other schools in our area that are applying for the grants are Duncan, Comanche, Elgin and Mountain View-Gotebo.
Proposals are due by October 30th, winners will be announced by the end of the year.
