Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/education/#ixzz0jx5sLdVd
Viewpoints: Innovations rare in Race to the Top
Race to the Top was always too good to be true. President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan sold the $4.35 billion stimulus program as education reform's 21st century "moon shot." But as this week's announcement of the first two state grant recipients shows, it's just another expensive sop to the education establishment, no less beholden to politics and bound by bureaucratic red tape.
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia made the list of finalists, but only two applicants – Delaware and Tennessee – made the grade.
Delaware will receive about $100 million and Tennessee about $500 million to put their comprehensive school reform plans into practice over the next four years.
Cash-strapped states passed over in the first round are scrambling for a piece of the remaining $3.4 billion in Race cash. Any state that lost out should take a close look at not simply what plans passed muster with the Education Department but why those plans succeeded.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/02/2650323/innovations-rare-in-race-to-the.html#ixzz0jx6Nk0EO