Blog

New Race Smarter Briefs: Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey

on May 04, 2010 by EEP, DFER & ERN

To assist policymakers in the Race to the Top Round 2 planning process, we — Democrats for Education Reform, the Education Equality Project, and Education Reform Now — are publishing a series of “Race Smarter” briefs, based on analysis of Race to the Top Round 1 applications, with the goal of informing states’ efforts to compete successfully for the remaining $3.4 billion in Race to the Top funds. Click here to check out our newest Race Smarter Briefs: Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey.

On March 29, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) took the bold step of naming only two states — Delaware and Tennessee — as Race to the Top (RTTT) Round 1 winners. The process was highly selective, as these two states were chosen from a group of 16 finalists from an initial pool of 41 applicants. The first round awards to these two states were well-earned and highly deserved.

Simultaneous with the announcement of the winners, the USDOE published the peer reviewers’ ratings and comments for all 41 applications. While the second round clearly will create a new scoring context, analyzing these initial ratings and comments can provide the remaining four states and the District of Columbia with the critical information they need as they prepare for Round 2.

We hope that these issue briefs will help state and local policymakers make the changes needed to enact education reforms that meet the very high standards set by President Obama and the aspirations and hopes we have for all of our nation’s teachers and students.

The deadline for Round 2 is June 1, 2010. Given that the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has announced that as many as “10–15 states could be winners in Round 2” and that the USDOE has clearly set a very high bar for success, we expect to enter a period of debate and action as lively as that preceding the first deadline.

We look forward to working with our colleagues over the coming months to enact these necessary and overdue reforms.

Race to the Top Briefs

Overview

Colorado            

Florida                

Georgia               

Illinois                 

Louisiana            

Massachusetts 

Michigan             

New Jersey       

New York            

Ohio   

Rhode Island

Categories: Education News

blog comments powered by Disqus