Press
State makes cut in national race for school cash
U.S. whittles its Race to Top finalists, with Empire State still in running for $700 million in new funding for experimental programs in education and management that could help improve its most troubled schools.
By Daniel Massey
New York is among 19 finalists in the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Tuesday, keeping alive the state's chances to win nearly $700 million to fund two dozen initiatives aimed at improving public schools.
The Empire State came in next-to-last among 16 finalists in the first round, but legislators vastly improved the state's chances at winning this time around by more than doubling the cap on charter schools at 460 and approving a new evaluation system that takes test scores into consideration when rewarding successful teachers or removing ineffective ones.
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White House Names Race to the Top Finalists
By STEPHANIE BANCHERO
The Obama administration on Tuesday named 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the race for federal money to help overhaul troubled schools.
Thirty-five states and the district applied for part of the $3.4 billion available under the Race to the Top competition. The finalists are Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
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18 States and District of Columbia Are Finalists for Education Grants
By ROBBIE BROWN
Published: July 27, 2010
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia were named as finalists on Tuesday in the second round of a national competition for $3.4 billion in federal financing to support education reform.
The much-anticipated decision by the federal Education Department eliminated almost half of the 35 states that entered the Race to the Top competition.
The finalists are Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
Winners will be announced in September, and federal officials say they expect 10 to 15 of the finalists to receive financing.
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New York, New Jersey Named Race to the Top Finalists
By Barbara Martinez
New York has been named a finalist in the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition, allowing the state to inch a bit closer to a potential $700 million windfall for badly ailing education budgets.
That New York made the finalist list, announced Tuesday morning, is not surprising given that it was a finalist in the first round and has since made legislative changes that strengthened its original application. Only two states won funding in the first round of Race to the Top earlier this year; New York was deemed to have lost in part because it had a low charter-school cap and a weak teacher-evaluation system.
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NYC's Charter School Grudge Match
The charter movement's money men target Harlem's Perkins
By Tom Robbins Tuesday
The city's charter school wars raged all spring. They got about as bitter as legislative battles get, with TV attack ads, tabloid slams, mass rallies, and a high-volume, standing-room-only hearing.
A cease-fire was reached only when a last-minute bill in late May gave charter advocates much of what they sought: a big expansion in the number of these independently run, but publicly funded schools, although with tighter rules and scrutiny.
You'd think that would have quieted things down a bit. But now the long knives are out for three state senators whose tough talk during the debate rubbed charter advocates the wrong way. The trio, led by top target Bill Perkins of Harlem, are now facing well-funded re-election fights. All three lawmakers--Perkins, Velmanette Montgomery of Central Brooklyn, and Shirley Huntley of South Queens--eventually voted for the charter schools expansion after new conflict-of-interest rules and auditing requirements were added. In the end, the bill's only opponents were 14 sour-grapes Republican senators who were mad because the new rules bar for-profit schools.
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July 29, 2010
Christie uses 'Race to the Top' good news to slam NJEA
State still competing with 18 others for share of $3.4 billion
BY TOM HESTER SR.
New Jersey has been named one of 19 governments to make the final round of the federal government "Race to the Top'' competition for a share of $3.4 billion in education aid.
Gov. Chris Christie welcomed the news Tuesday but also took the opportunity to again criticize the New Jersey Education Association, the statewide teachers union.
"President Obama and (U.S.) Secretary (of Education) Duncan today recognized our administration's plan for bold reform of our state's education system,'' Christie said.
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July 28, 2010
Education Contest Yields 18 Finalists
(From The Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2010)
By STEPHANIE BANCHERO
The Obama administration on Tuesday named 18 states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the race for federal money to help overhaul troubled schools.
Thirty-five states and the district applied for part of the $3.4 billion available under the Race to the Top competition. The finalists are Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the finalists during a speech Tuesday at the National Press Club, where he called the competition part of a "quiet revolution" sweeping America to transform public education. The program "has unleashed an avalanche of pent-up education-reform activity," Mr. Duncan said. "It is absolutely stunning to see how much change has happened at the state and local level."
Race to the Top, the centerpiece of Mr. Duncan's efforts to push innovation, aims to reward states that promote charter schools--public schools run by non-government entities--tie teacher evaluation to student performance and adopt rigorous learning standards.
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