Florida Announced As Finalist In 4.35-Billion Race
Florida Announced As Finalist In 4.35-Billion Race to the Top Competition
Governor Charlie Crist announced that Florida has been named a finalist in phase 1 of the $4.35-billion federal Race to the Top education reform competition.
resident Barack Obama, delivering a schoolhouse pitch for a $1.35-billion expansion of his signature educational plan, promised to "raise the bar'' for what public schools expect of students and teachers.
Florida was one of only 16 finalists chosen from a pool of 41 applicants to proceed to the next stage of the competition. Race to the Top winners will receive funding to implement comprehensive education reform plans designed to accelerate student learning and improve the quality of education. Phase 1 winners are expected to be announced in early April.
From Mark Silva, The Baltimore Sun:
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, delivering a schoolhouse pitch Tuesday for a $1.35-billion expansion of his signature educational plan, promised to “raise the bar” for what public schools expect of students and teachers.
“Nothing will make as much of a difference as the way we educate our sons and daughters,” Obama said, after meeting with schoolchildren at an elementary school in Falls Church, Va. “The countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, and I refuse to let that happen on my watch.”
Under the Obama administration’s “”Race to the Top” program”:http://www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html, states are competing for a share of $4.35 billion in federal funding aimed at spurring public schools to make student achievement the core of their programs. That includes potentially evaluating, and paying, teachers according to how well their students perform.
[...]
Obama said today that the apparent popularity of the “national competition” is “a sign of how much states and schools believe this nation will benefit them.”
By expanding the program, the president said, “we’re going to raise the bar for all our students and take bigger steps toward closing the achievement gap that denies so many students, especially blacks and Latinos, a fair shot at their dreams.”
Continue at The Baltimore Sun for the full article.
Posted by 
I read a few topics. I respect your work and added blog to favorites.