President Barack Obama is holding out a big carrot to the education community. All you have to do is make certain changes the president wants and you might share in this $4.35 billion pie.

The prospect of becoming eligible for $500 million in Race to the Top grants — part of the economic stimulus package — prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to call the Legislature into special session.

The Desert Sun believes the state should do what it can to qualify for the money. Given the continuing budget challenges, California needs every penny it can get from the federal government.

Our schools suffered severely in this year's budget cuts. Restoring teaching positions and reducing class sizes are important goals.

That being said, it's an uncomfortable position. Debate on education reform should not be rushed. The issues Obama has laid on our table need careful consideration.

Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, is vice chairman of the Assembly Education Committee.

“I'm glad we're here to discuss reforms and change,” he said, “but what I don't like is being here because the federal government is waving some dollars under our nose.”

Tests tied to teacher reviews

The governor has already signed a bill to delete a provision in the Education Code that prevents student academic data from being used in teacher evaluations.

We can live with that, but it would be wrong to base teachers' pay too much on test scores. Testing is done only in math, reading and science, and it's primarily done in the even-numbered grades.

If test scores are a major factor, how would you assess teachers of art, physical education and social studies teachers, and teachers in grades where tests aren't given?

Also, in areas like the Coachella Valley where language and income levels are challenges to learning, those conditions need to be taken into consideration.

Charter schools

In a hearing on Wednesday in Sacramento, the committee debated new legislation that aims to encourage the creation of new charter schools — another goal of the Obama administration.

Charter schools can offer an emphasis on attractive subjects such as science or the arts. Many tend to get better results because parents who seek out charter schools are more invested in their children's education.

The valley has two excellent charter schools, George Washington Charter Elementary School and Palm Desert Charter Middle School. A charter school in Indio was shut down in 2004 amid questions about attendance records, accounting procedures and other practices.

The Charter School Accountability Act would require schools to submit student academic data to be used in the renewal of the charters. It also lifts the state cap on the number of charter schools.

This makes sense. According to Tom Burbank, president of the Desert Sands Teachers Association, there's no evidence that charter schools perform better than regular schools. But consideration of charter schools is one of the conditions of qualifying the federal money. It is worth looking at the innovations that charter schools can offer.

Special education vouchers

Another reform pushed by the administration is to allow parents with special-needs students to use vouchers to purchase services from private schools. This kind of flexibility might be a good thing.

We agree with Nestande that this seems to be the federal government's camel nose under our educational tent, but the need for educational dollars is so great that we're comfortable with compromise.

This shouldn't be the end of the debate on these issues. Bring them back up once the money is in the bank.