Arizona narrowly failed to qualify for funding in the federal "Race to the top" education grant competition's second round.
According to the U.S. Department Education's announcement Tuesday, Arizona placed 12th out of 35 states and the District of Columbia competing in the second round. Nine states and the district were awarded grants.
Arizona's second-round performance at 435 points out of a possible 500 points is a distinct improvement from the competition's first round when the state finished 40th out of 41.
The program is part of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan. It rewards states for taking steps to improve struggling schools. The program will have a third round next year.
The winning states are Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island.
The competition has instigated a wave of reforms across the country, as states passed new teacher accountability policies and lifted caps on charter schools to boost their chances of winning.
Tennessee and Delaware were named winners in the first round of the competition in March, sharing $600 million.
Tuesday’s winners will share a remaining $3.4 billion.
Michael Cowan, superintendent of the Mesa Unified School District, said Arizona losing out on this round of Race to the Top funds is bittersweet.
“The bitterness is that we were not selected,” Cowan said. “But I’m very pleased with our team’s effort and presentation.”
Cowan was one of five team members selected by Gov. Jan Brewer to travel to Washington, D.C., and make Arizona’s pitch for Race to the Top. Cowan represented the state’s school districts and charter schools.
“We had a strong component on teacher and principal evaluations and on improving struggling schools,” Cowan said, adding that he was disappointed that “there were no states from the western half of the continent” that were chosen in this round.
Despite losing out on the federal dollars, Cowan said the state’s current Race to the Top plan is the one Arizona will continue to pursue, and that many aspects of it will start being used in the state’s public schools.
n2mark posted at 6:58 pm on Tue, Aug 24, 2010.
Someone needs to tell me why Az needs extra funding for education! Our legislature pulled money away from education and they just don't care about the youth and our little ones. Prop 302 is a perfect example. I wouldn't trust these crooks who run this state with one penny!
soricobob posted at 7:59 am on Sat, Aug 28, 2010.
Three comments: 1. n@mark asks why we need more money for education, in my opinion it is a pit into which we could throw money and never have enough; 2. most taxpayers, whether they want federal involvement or not, look at federal dollars as "free" money; 3. I know we have no way of finding out, but wouldn't it be interesting if a "memo" was leaked to the press which was from the U.S. Attorney General's office, and ordered the committee to not allow any monies to Arizona due to the immigration law.