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States "Race to the Top"

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States Race For Education Funds:  In the nationwide contest for federal funds under the “Race to the Top ” program, many states are deciding whether to continue with their pursuit of these funds – Only two states, Delaware and Tennessee, were named winners in the first round of the contest, sharing nearly $600 million.  Finalists in the second round will be announced by the U.S. Department of Education on July 26, 2010 and the final winners may be announced by late August or early September.  Here are a few states’ plans for pursuing these second round education funds:

• California:  The state’s Schools Chief announced on April 30th that California would continue its efforts to seek federal funding through Phase 2 of the Race to the Top federal funds competition.  Applications for the second round are due June 1st. 

• Michigan:  The Detroit News reported that the Michigan Education Association and American Federation of Teachers-Michigan issued letters of support for this state’s application for $400 million in the second round of the contest for federal school funds. The unions apparently agreed to encourage local memberships across Michigan to issue MOUs indicatng agreement with the state’s plan.   

• Minnesota:  Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Minnesota will not be applying for the up to $175 million in federal education funds under the Race to the Top program.  As reported in the StarTribune , during the just-completed legislative session, there were proposals that affected teachers that sharply divided by chambers of the state legislature.  Strong disagreements led to no education bill being passed by Minnesota’s legislature.

• Nevada:  This state formed the Nevada Education Reform Blue Ribbon Task Force to guide and oversee Nevada’s Race to the Top application.  The first meeting was held at Wynn Las Vegas on March 19th.

• Washington:  By May 21, 2010, 95% of the school districts in the state of Washington have signed on to submit an application for the federal Race to the Top funds.  The Spokesman-Review broke down the possible funding as follows:  with the state receiving $250 million over four years, that would mean that Spokane Public Schools would receive about $1.6 million annually, the Central Valley about $263,000, and Mead about $198,000.