http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.htmlShould Georgians be mad?
I get the feeling that if we had come in fifth the top four would have been grantees.
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The Secretary announced the winners for Phase 1 of Race to the Top on March 29, 2010.
•See the list of winners.
•The applications, scores, and comments for the 41 Phase 1 applicants.
Through Race to the Top, we are asking States to advance reforms around four specific areas:
•Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy;
•Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;
•Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
•Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.
Awards in Race to the Top will go to States that are leading the way with ambitious yet achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling, and comprehensive education reform. Race to the Top winners will help trail-blaze effective reforms and provide examples for States and local school districts throughout the country to follow as they too are hard at work on reforms that can transform our schools for decades to come.
http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/03/03292010.htmlU.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced today that Delaware and Tennessee have won grants in the first phase of the Race to the Top competition.
"We received many strong proposals from states all across America, but two applications stood out above all others: Delaware and Tennessee," Duncan said in announcing the winners. "Both states have statewide buy-in for comprehensive plans to reform their schools. They have written new laws to support their policies. And they have demonstrated the courage, capacity, and commitment to turn their ideas into practices that can improve outcomes for students."
Delaware will receive approximately $100 million and Tennessee $500 million to implement their comprehensive school reform plans over the next four years. As with any federal grant program, budgets will be finalized after discussions between the grantees and the Department, and the money will be distributed over time as the grantees meet established benchmarks.
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=228353 Coming in third in the nation would typically give Georgia bragging rights, but that wasn't the case this week.
Georgia missed out on more than $400 million in federal grants under the U.S.
Department of Education's ``Race to the Top'' competition, narrowly losing to Tennessee and Delaware. Now, the state is scrambling to rework its 200-page application in hopes of entering the second round of the competition, which is designed to encourage innovative programs that will raise student achievement and turn around struggling schools.
``It's incredibly frustrating and disappointing that we were so close, but we always had the consolation that the second round was there,'' said Gov. Sonny Perdue's spokesman, Bert Brantley. ``But it's very encouraging that we scored so high. That is the bittersweet nature of this announcement.''
The state is starting over when it comes to applying for the money because federal officials say rankings from the first round won't carry over.
Georgia received a 433 out of a possible 500, compared with Delaware's 454 and Tennessee's 444. Florida came in fourth with 431.
One important factor in Georgia's score was a lack of support from the Georgia Association of Educators and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, the two groups that represent the state's 200,000 teachers. State officials included individual teachers and school administrators rather than having the two associations help write the ``Race to the Top'' application.
Federal education officials have said the buy-in from the teachers' groups in Tennessee and Delaware were instrumental in their winning scores. States like Tennessee with teachers' unions that have collective bargaining rights were required to get their sign off, but others like Georgia had the option of excluding those groups.
Nonetheless, Georgia officials say they don't plan to involve either teachers' group in the second round.
``That's arrogance at its worst,'' said Jeff Hubbard, president of the Georgia Association of Educators. ``The governor and his staff think the teachers' voices aren't important when the teachers will be ultimately responsible for making these reforms work.''
The state also only had 23 school districts out of 180 sign on to the application for the first round, whereas Delaware and Tennessee had every district agree to their reforms. Although Georgia's districts represented nearly half the state's students, reviewers commenting on the application expressed concern about it.
Georgia officials say they hope to convince the reviewing committee that starting with 23 districts including Gwinnett County, the largest in the state with 150,000 students, larger than all the students in Delaware combined is the smart way to implement some of their reforms, with plans to expand them to the rest of the state over time.
Other areas that Georgia must work on include, based on comments in the state's proposal and federal officials:
Reducing the proposed $462 million budget to $400 million after Education Secretary Arne Duncan said applications for the second round cannot go over a certain amount for each state.
Developing a clearer way to assess teachers' and principals' performance.
Detailing how officials plan to measure teacher preparation programs at colleges and universities based on how their graduates perform in the classroom.
Demonstrate ways the state will encourage teachers to get certified in science and math areas to increase the number of quality instructors in those classes.
Applications for the second round of ``Race the Top'' are due June 1, with winners to be announced in early fall.
Georgia was among 16 finalists for the first round from the 41 applicants for the competition. Any state can apply for the second round.
``We're going to be very tough to beat in round two,'' Brantley said.
