School districts not racing to sign on with state bid
YAKIMA, Wash. -- School districts throughout Washington have until Monday to buy into the state's bid for a portion of $3.4 billion in federal Race to the Top funds.
So far, 134 -- about 45 percent -- of the state's 295 school dist-ricts have signed on, including a handful from the Yakima Valley.
By midday Friday, about a half-dozen local school districts had agreed to support the state's application to compete for a share of approximately $250 million.
Gov. Chris Gregoire has asked school districts to sign on by Mon-
day. The state has until June 1 to turn in its application to the federal government.
day. The state has until June 1 to turn in its application to the federal government.
"We're certainly supporting the application," said Elaine Beraza, superintendent of the Yakima School District. "Anytime we can bring resources for students in Yakima, it's a great thing."
The Yakima School District, the largest in Central Washington with about 14,600 students, stands to gain the most in this region -- just over $1 million a year for four years -- if the state is one of the winners of the federal education reform competition.
Statewide support counts. The applications of both round-one winners -- Tennessee and Delaware -- had the buy-in of all their school districts and strong backing from teacher unions.
Gregoire is aiming for the same kind of backing here in the second round. Last month, she urged all school districts statewide to support Washington's application.
"The better the participation rate from districts, the