Sen. Shelby questions education grant competition
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The "Race to the Top" program extends the reach of the federal government too far into states' public schools operations, a leading Republican senator said on Wednesday.
The Obama administration also risks neglecting poorer states by moving toward competitive education funding, Sen. Richard Shelby, the most powerful Republican on the Banking Committee, said at a hearing on education spending.
"I'm concerned that the scoring process for Race to the Top applications essentially mandates which interventions should be used by states and local school districts to improve student achievement," Shelby said.
"The federal government, I believe, should give states the flexibility to implement critical reforms," he added.
President Barack Obama created the competitive Race to the Top program in the 2009 economic stimulus plan to encourage states to adopt unified education standards, implement teaching reforms and foster the spread of autonomous charter schools.
States, eager for education money, competed heavily for more than $4 billion in grants, and the program's popularity led Congress to add $500 million in additional funding. In the budget he proposed in February, Obama suggested expanding