We are delighted to announce that California has been named one of nineteen Race to the Top (RttT) Round 2 Finalists. The United States Department of Education made two funding awards for the first round of the RttT program to the two highest ranked applicants, Tennessee and Delaware.  In Round One, California was ranked 27th out of 41 total applicants.

Following the completion of RttT round 1, California decided to re-apply for funding in Round 2, analyzing feedback from the Round 1 application and devising an alternate strategy.

36 states submitted proposals to the RttT round 2 and California was included in the 19 finalists announced today (7/27/10).  The finalists continue to the next phase of the evaluation process where they will deliver a presentation of their education reform plans to the application reviewers and respond to respond to their questions from the reviewers.

The Glen Price Group is pleased to have contributed to writing and producing this proposal.

See the official press release from the US Department of Education here: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/18-states-and-dc-named-finalists-race-top

See Education Week’s blog post about the announcement and thoughts going forward here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2010/07/xx_states_dc_named_race_to_top.html

The Glen Price Group is proud to have managed and written the narrative portion of the State of California’s Round 2 Race to the Top application to the U.S. Department of Education!

Work on the application began April 30 and was a marathon undertaking right up to the finish. Many thanks to the Office of the Secretary of Education, California Department of Education, the Parthenon Group and many others who literally worked day and night to complete this sweeping proposal.

If funded, up to $700 million dollars in much-needed funding will be provided to the State of California. The framework for the California application was developed by a working group of seven school district superintendents who are committed to the reforms outlined in response to the goals of the Race to the Top opportunity. An additional 295 LEAs, representing 2,602 schools and over 1.7 million students, have committed to implement all of the far-reaching reforms detailed by the application.

The California proposal represents a detailed road map for the future of education in the state and will work to ensure effective teachers and principals are in our low-performing and high-poverty schools, support and expand STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) programs, and use strong data to improve student achievement.

Congratulations to the Elsa Widenmann Elementary School community for realizing a many-year dream of opening its Student Health Center. The Center, which is a project of the North Vallejo Health Collaborative, which includes the Vallejo City Unified School District , Touro University, Kaiser Permanente, United Way of the Bay Area, Partnership for Children and Youth, La Clinica, as well as additional community-based organizations. At full capacity, the Student Health Center will be able to serve 26 to 28 patients each day!

The Glen Price Group is pleased to have been able to support the early stages of partnership development, strategic planning, and resource development for the Student Health Center.

We were especially pleased to see the center honor our wonderful colleague and mentor, MaBella Gonzales, by naming an examination for her. Ms. Gonzalez served for over 12 years as principal of Elsa Widenmann Elementary and it was her tireless organizing, know-how, and perseverance that enabled the Health Center and many other programs for children, youth, and families to be established.

Retired Esla Widenmann Elementary School Principal MaBella Gonzales. Photo from the May 19, 2010 Times-Herald of Solano and Napa Counties

For the last several months Glen Price and GPG Senior Associate Christopher Szecsey have been working on the final evaluation of the World Wildlife Fund/American Red Cross Green Recovery Program (GRP). This is a partnership formed in the aftermath of the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, one of the most devastating natural disasters in history. The GRP seeks to combine the humanitarian aid know-how of the American Red Cross with the environmental expertise of the World Wildlife Fund to design and implement long-lasting and environmentally sustainable recovery strategies.

This video was produced by one of the GRP’s partners in Sri Lanka, Environmental Foundation LTD., and chronicles some of their outstanding projects in the area of waste management. Enjoy!

Closing the loop in waste management.

STEP-UP (Summer Training and Employment Project to Unleash Potential), a collaboration between Contra Costa County and the City of Richmond to provide summer education and employment opportunities for 200 youth in West Contra Costa county, has received an award of $500,000 from the Bridges to Success program, sponsored by the California Department of Employment Development.

Research has demonstrated that providing young people with structured education and training opportunities during the summer months is extremely important to increasing their likelihood of success in school, particularly for those who are at risk of dropping out. STEP-UP will serve West County young people with a high risk for school failure by providing a year-long program that includes a paid summer work experience, training in job and life skills, case management, and academic and other support throughout the following school year. Summer placements and training will be offered in four areas, including: allied health, environmental restoration, information technology and the skilled trades.

Project partners include Doctor’s Hospital, John Muir Health, the Watershed Project, the Richmond and Contra Costa Housing Authorities, Kaiser Medical Center, the City of San Pablo, Supervisor John Gioia’s office, the UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science, and Rising Sun Energy Services, RYSE Youth Center and the Partnership for Children and Youth.

The Glen Price Group has worked closely with many of the partners on other projects, and was pleased to have the opportunity to prepare this application for funding.

On March 5, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced over $9.2 million in competitive grants have been awarded to 24 cities throughout the state under the Governor’s California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) initiative.

The City of Richmond, in partnership with the City of San Pablo and RYSE Youth Center, applied for the current round of CalGRIP funding in late 2009, a year in which roughly 60% of the city’s homicides were the result of criminal street gang activity. The award of $382,639 will be used to create a Safe Community Partnership program, based upon a model in place in the cities of Boston, Chicago, and Indianapolis that has resulted in a 25 to 60 percent reduction in homicides in those communities. The project will enhance police response to gang violence and assist local organizations to provide gang intervention and prevention programs and education and employment opportunities for at-risk youth.

Governor Schwarzenegger introduced the CalGRIP initiative in May 2007 to confront the dramatic increase in gangs across the state and their proliferation in suburban and rural areas. Richmond was one of two grant recipients in the East Bay region, the other being the City of Oakland. Since the CalGRIP program was introduced, the City of Richmond has received a total of $1.8 million in funding for a total of five grant applications prepared with the assistance of the Glen Price Group.

With this investment, the California Emerging Technology Fund will coordinate a multifaceted outreach campaign using local partner organizations, trusted ambassadors, and grassroots mobilization, to disseminate information about broadband training and services to 5 million California residents. Among other benefits, this investment will upgrade California’s One-e-App one-stop online screening and enrollment system that helps families apply for a range of health care and social service programs. The project expects to increase adoption of broadband Internet service among key vulnerable populations by more than 130,000 households.

The Glen Price Group was delighted to have supported the California Emerging Technology Fund and its partners with the development of this application. See the full announcement: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/press/2010/02262010_BTOP_CETF.html