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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Why 'i3' May Not Have Been Congressional Target - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Why 'i3' May Not Have Been Congressional Target - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Why 'i3' May Not Have Been Congressional Target

Back when it was looking like Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, was going to trim unspent funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for edujobs, I thought it was pretty likely he'd take money out of the $650 million Investing in Innovation or 'i3' Fund. Instead, he ended up targeting the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund.
The i3 fund, which is meant to scale up promising practices, seemed like a good target because it hasn't been nearly as high profile as Race to the Top, which President Obama has personally championed. And, arguably, the program is a lot more likely to generate cries of conflict of interest, no matter who wins the grants. (Example: