Illinois narrowly lost a national contest to overhaul its public schools Monday, but state education officials vowed to try again for federal funding in the second round of the reform initiative that aims to change how students are tested, teachers are judged and schools improved.
U.S. Education Secretary tapped Delaware and Tennessee as the only recipients of the first round of Race to the Top grants that promise $4 billion to states willing to shake up their education systems.
Illinois ranked fifth among the 16 finalists, earning 423.8 on the 500-point scale. Forty states applied for the grant.
Delaware and Tennessee together will receive an estimated $600 million during the next four years, leaving $3.4 billion of the federal funding pie to be doled out later.
Duncan said the next round will be a “new competition,” but the state’s strong showing could position Illinois well to vie for $400 million. Applications are due June 1. Duncan said there could be as many as 10 to 15 winners in the second phase.
Illinois schools Superintendent Christopher Koch said the state will continue to work on the sweeping reforms in its 814-page application.
“These are the right things to do. These are the right reforms,” Koch said. “We think they are necessary.”
The initiative represents the cornerstone of President Barack Obama‘s education agenda: to spur dramatic and difficult changes in how students are tested, teachers are judged and low-performing schools are improved through financial incentives.
Enticed by the grant at a time of dwindling state revenues, Illinois lawmakers doubled the number of charter schools allowed in the state, required that schools test students every year and linked teacher and principal pay to students’ exam scores.
The Race to the Top money would not solve the budget woes and teacher layoffs that threaten school districts across the state. The funds could not be used for general operating expenses, but rather for specific improvements to state assessment tests or teacher evaluation systems.
Read the original article from stateline.org.
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