Ed Week’s Michele McNeil broke the news last week that Arne Duncan has decided not to release the names of the “Race to the Top” reviewers–until after the competition is over and grants have been announced. Rick Hess has been all over this (here and here), which forced a bloggy response from Duncan and made Eduwonk Andy schizophrenic.

Here’s my advice, Mr. Secretary: release the names, release everything, and right away. Here’s why: sooner or later, you’re going to get a dreaded call from the White House, probably from Rahm Emanuel himself. He’s going to say something like, “Look, Arne, we understand that all of the first-round grants are going to red states, and that’s a problem.” Or, maybe this fall, when the second round of grants are due, “Look, Arne, our friend Ted Strickland is locked in a tough re-election race, and we really need him in place for 2012. We understand that, legally, the review panels are just advisory; that you as Secretary have the discretion to fund anyone you want. So…can you help?”

And if you’ve released everything–the applications themselves, the names of the reviewers, all of the instructions given to the panels, etc.–then the whole policy community will be able to see for ourselves which states most deserve the money. There will be some close calls, for sure. But if a state with a mediocre (or worse) application gets the money, we’ll know there’s been funny business. And then you can say:

“Rahm, I hear you, but it’s clear as day to everyone that [State X] doesn’t deserve to get the money. If we do this, it will be obvious, and be seen as transparently political. It will engulf the President in a huge scandal. There’s just no way around it.”

Release the names, publish all the nitty gritty details, and buy yourself some insurance. Trust me, this kind of stuff happens.

-Mike Petrilli

Photograph by Flowery *L*u*z*a* from Flickr

Related posts:

1. More damage control from Arne Duncan
2. Duncan standing by the high bar
3. Arne Duncan: Race to the Top grants to be announced “very soon”