Race to the Top

Race to the Top
Race to the Top (RTTT) is a $4.35 billion competition between states, created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by President Obama. RTTT would competitively award funds to states to facilitate the improvement of education quality and outcome. RTTT targets four areas:

• Adopting national standards and assessments that will prepare students for success in higher education and the workplace
• Develop data systems that measure student outcomes, meanwhile informing teachers and principles about how they can improve the quality of instruction
• Building systems to recruit, develop, reward, and retain effective educators and principals, especially in schools and districts where they are most needed
• Turn around the lowest-achieving schools

States that are pioneering ambitious but achievable mechanisms for producing comprehensive, sound, and undeniable education reform will receive the monetary awards. RTTT would competitively award funds to states to facilitate the improvement of education quality and outcome through rigorous standards and assessments, teacher incentives, the promotion of charter schools, the closure of schools that have failed while using innovative approaches to rehabilitate schools that are struggling. In addition, the program will promote the use of data systems to inform decisions and identify and encourage education reform. RTTT award recipients will serve as models for other states and schools districts across the nation.

In the News
With a January 2010 deadline for the first round of funding, 40 states and the District of Columbia applied for RTTT. The remaining ten, including Alaska, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Washington made no application for the first round. Alaska, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Vermont, and Washington currently have plans to apply during the second round, which will be accepted in June 2010 with winners announced this September. North Dakota and Alaska are still considering their options. 11 states, including California, Massachusetts, and Tennessee made changes in their education laws and policies to better compete in RTTT.

First round finalists were notified on Thursday, March 4. The finalists chosen were Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Finalists assembled five-person teams that went to Washington the week of March 15 to make a final presentation to peer reviewers. These reviewers adjusted the finalists’ scores and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had the final say in determining who won the awards and how many awards were given. On Monday, March 29, Tennessee and Delaware were announced as the first winners of RTTT funding. States not chosen as finalists will have the opportunity to apply for the second round of funding in June.

On January 19, 2010, President Obama announced his plans to add $1.35 billion in the 2011 budget to continue RTTT funding and provide an opportunity for individual school districts to apply [1].

Texas and RTTT
Texas Governor Rick Perry announced on January 13, 2010 that Texas would not apply for RTTT funding [2].

[1] http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-announce-plans-race-top-expansion
[2] http://governor.state.tx.us/files/press-office/O-DuncanArne201001130344.pdf