Delaware and Tennessee Win Race to the Top

The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and others report that Delaware and Tennessee are the winners of the first round of the Department of Education’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top program, which rewards states who demonstrate a commitment to education reform. More than 40 states applied for grants, and the Obama Administration had tapped 16 finalists. The Department of Education has yet to specify how much each state will receive; Delaware applied for $107 million in federal funds to overhaul its struggling schools, while Tennessee asked for some $500 million. The Post has more on the decision:

Leaders in both states pledged to establish national models for data-driven reform, tying teacher evaluation to student performance in an all-out effort to close achievement gaps.
Georgia, ranked third in the contest, and Florida, considered a favorite to win, fell just short of a threshold for awards that Duncan set himself. More than $3 billion remains in the fund, and they could win some in a future round.
Duncan’s decision to name only two initial winners gives the Obama administration continued leverage to upend the status quo in public education. It also squelches any suggestion that Duncan would seek to spread the money around as much and as fast as possible to help Obama win favor in key political states.

Romney Defends Bain Record, Hits Obama on Economy: ‘He Just Doesn’t Have a Clue’

Mitt Romney lashed President Obama’s economic stewardship in an interview with TIME’s Mark Halperin on Wednesday, deflecting attacks on his years as a private equity executive and laying out how he hopes to take control of the economy as soon as he’s sworn in, should he defeat Obama in November.

Mother of Mitt: How Lenore Romney’s Failed Campaign Shaped the Presumptive Republican Nominee

This week’s TIME cover story, “The Mother of the Mitt Campaign,” tells the tale of how Lenore Romney’s 1970 run for U.S. Senate may have made a bigger impression on the Republican presidential candidate than his years spent as the son of a governor. Mitt’s father lost his own presidential bid, but it was the lessons from his mother’s loss that are more instructive as Romney enters the campaign stretch.

afguy

Since I live in KY and our education system sux, what’s the prize for the “Race to the Bottom?
emporerofjustice

I like this. I like this a lot.
nflfoghorn

A loss to West Virginia wasn’t enough??
afguy

Oh, some of the more hardcore fans here are ready to slit their wrists over that.
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Oh, well… live by the freshmen, die by the freshmen…
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Reminds me of the Michigan team a few years ago… a freshman mistake did them in too.
allthingsinaname

Here in TX., at about 47th, we don’t want no stupid education, and at the bottom of health care, we don’t want that stupid thing neither. We can take care of ourselves.
http://patricksartor.wordpress.com patricksartor

Wasn’t it KY that tried to put in their textbooks that Global Warming and Evolution were still pending ideas?
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If so, it’s no surprise.
nflfoghorn

Yeah, I’m waitin’ for John Wall to turn pro…by about 11:00pm tonight.
afguy

Wall made NO attempt to hide the fact that he was only there for ONE year – in fact I think he transferred to Ky because they would play him immediately.
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Getting an education was NEVER his goal – improving his pro potential was.
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If he gets Player of the Year, he’s history.
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If he stays, it will be because he wanted the college title on his pro resume and needs to stay longer to complete the job. I do wonder what his grades were?
http://teacherreaderwriter.wordpress.com/ Shakespeare in GA

Texas: the Lonesome Starbursts-for-Palin State.
http://teacherreaderwriter.wordpress.com/ Shakespeare in GA

Georgia’s governor, Sonny Perdue, vows to reapply for the next round of DOE’s Race to the Top this summer. I can hope, but I won’t hold my breath. After all, this is a guy who, when he first ran for governor, suggested at a press conference that he and his rival have a shooting contest (at paper targets, not each other) to determine who would win.