Louisiana making headway in 'Race to the Top,' President Barack Obama says | New Orleans Metro Education News - - NOLA.com

Louisiana making headway in 'Race to the Top,' President Barack Obama says | New Orleans Metro Education News - - NOLA.com

President Barack Obama on Tuesday again cited Louisiana as one of the state's adopting effective school reform policies as final applications came due for a share of a $4.35 billion education grant program known as the"Race to the Top."

"In Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee, California, we've seen changes in laws or policies to let public charter schools expand and succeed," Obama said during an appearance at a Virginia elementary school. Such schools, he said, are given more independence as they are generally formed by teachers, parents and community members.

In announcing the state's application for Race to the Top financing, Louisiana education officials said the state should benefit by having the highest concentration of charter schools among the 50 states and other policies.

But since Obama announced the grant program, other states have engaged in the educational overhaul agenda, meaning Louisiana will face some stiff competition.

In states such as California, Rhode Island, Nevada, Wisconsin and Indiana, officials have either lifted restrictions on charter schools or repealed laws that the Obama administration viewed as harmful to reform efforts. For example, the legislatures in California and Wisconsin repealed laws that banned the linkage of student achievement scores to performance evaluations of teachers.