From The Washington Post: Maryland and Washington, D.C., joined eight states as winners of $3.4 billion in coveted education grants, federal officials say. The other winners in the second round of President Obama's Race to the Top were Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island, the U.S. Education Department says.
EARLIER...from The New York Times: Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., have been named as finalists in the second round of a national competition for $3.4 billion in federal financing to support an overhaul of education policies. The much-anticipated decision by the federal Education Department eliminated almost half of the 35 states that entered the competition, called Race to the Top. The finalists are Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
RELATED: With state education budgets strapped, plenty of critics say this is the wrong time to be holding the Race to the Top competition. (The Christian Science Monitor)
ALSO: After Michigan was passed over in the Race to the Top competition for education funding, some teachers union leaders say the state should consider repealing some of the changes made this year. But lawmakers who worked on the reforms -- which include taking over failing schools and linking teacher evaluations to test scores -- said dismantling them would be a mistake. (The Grand Rapids Press)
