Education Week - Race to Top Round 2: Announcing the Winners UPDATE: Here's the final, confirmed list of winners. The department has also released the dollar amount each state is slated to receive, and their point score...

'N.J. will not get federal Race to the Top education funding'

Published: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 1:17 PM     Updated: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 1:33 PM

Star-Ledger Staff

 

New Jersey failed in its quest to receive up to $400 million in federal "Race to the Top" funding for education reform, according to an announcement made by United States Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Nine states and the District of Columbia will receive money in the second round of the $4.35 billion competition for school reform grants.

New Jersey ranked 11th, according to data posted on the U.S. Department of Education website. The state's score on its application fell three points shy of the lowest ranked to receive funding, Ohio.

The 10 winning applicants are the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. The funding amounts awarded to each vary, ranging from $700 million for New York and Florida, to $75 million for the smaller Hawaii, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.

"These states show what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children," Duncan said.

"Every state that applied showed a tremendous amount of leadership and a bold commitment to education reform," Duncan said in a prepared statement. "We set a high bar, and these states met the challenge."

Duncan said the department received "many more competitive applications than money to fund them," and said hopes are to create a Phase 3 of Race to the Top next year. His statement did not address areas where the states that did not receive money fell short.

New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler issued a statement that said he was disappointed that the state was not selected. “Our commitment to bold, meaningful reform remains firm," he said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• N.J. expects to hear on federal Race to the Top application

• Gov. Chris Christie awaits outcome of Race to the Top application

• N.J. is among 19 finalists for federal Race to the Top education funding

• Gov. Christie says N.J. education chief made mistake with Race to the Top compromise

• Key points agreed on by NJEA are changed in new 'Race to the Top' application

• N.J. teachers union joins Christie administration in 'Race to the Top' application

"This fall we must act swiftly to implement the education reforms the people of New Jersey deserve and demand to transform schools in our state that are failing, improve the quality of education for every New Jersey child and challenge the status quo wherever it is necessary.”

The state’s largest teacher’s union, the New Jersey Education Association called it "a direct result of Gov. Christie’s misguided decision to hijack the grant application process for his own political purposes."

The state’s application for Race to the Top was submitted without backing of the union. The NJEA had signed onto an earlier version, but Christie rejected that compromise proposal.

"Gov. Christie chose political gamesmanship over the best interests of New Jersey’s students and taxpayers," the NJEA said in a prepared statement.

In the first round of Race to the Top, New Jersey lost the most points for failing to prove it could execute its reform plans with broad stakeholder support. New Jersey also lost 20 points in the 500 point competition for not implementing a state-wide longitudinal data system to track students’ academic progress, a category in which both first-round winners Tennessee and Delaware received perfect scores.

Results from the competition’s first round highlighted a number of recent legislative reforms enacted by Race to the Top’s second-round winners. Six of the 10 second-round winners adopted Common Core Standards, and New Jersey did as well. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York passed new laws lifting or easing caps on their number of charter schools. Three second-round winners and both first-round winners enacted legislation tying teacher evaluations to student achievement data.

New Jersey’s application could have been more competitive if the state had done more to change the way it evaluates and retains teachers. This change could have been made, and could still be made in the future, through regulation, not legislation, said Frank Belluscio, director of communications for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

By Jeanette Rundquist and Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger

The Record ‘NJ loses bid for federal Race to the Top money’

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

BY LESLIE BRODY

New Jersey lost its bid for $400 million in federal Race to the Top money for school reform, a congressional source said.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will announce the winners for the $3.4 billion in prize money at noon. New Jersey was among the 19 finalists.

New Jersey’s bid for the prize took a twisting path. Days before the June 1 deadline, Governor Christie threw out an application negotiated by his education commissioner, Bret Schundler, saying it included too many compromises with the New Jersey Education Association. Christie ordered his commissioner to rewrite the massive proposal to reinstate key elements of earlier versions, such as individual merit pay for teachers, putting job performance over seniority when cutting staff, and giving bonuses to highly effective faculty.

The governor and education commissioner have said that they would forge ahead with these controversial changes even if the state failed to win the money. Teachers unions have balked at merit pay, saying it undermines teamwork, and argue it’s unfair to judge teachers by student test scores because so many factors outside the classroom affect learning.

Tuesday’s announcement marked the second phase of the competition; New Jersey also failed in the first phase last winter. That deadline was Christie’s inauguration day, and there was conflict and confusion between the outgoing administration of Gov. Jon Corzine and the incoming Christie team about who should handle the project.

Delaware and Tennessee won that phase, which awarded $600 million for those two states, plus $350 million for a separate competition to improve tests.

E-mail: brody@northjersey.com

Associated Press ‘N.J. will not get federal 'Race to the Top' education funding’

Updated: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 11:43 AM

The Associated Press

New Jersey has been shut out of a federal education grant that could have been worth as much as $400 million to transform parts of the state's public school system.

The U.S. Education Department says nine other states and the District of Columbia will receive money through the second round of the Race to the Top Program.

New Jersey was one of 18 finalists.

New Jersey's Education Department had high hopes that the state could win the grant as a way to jump-start programs favored by Gov. Chris Christie. The state said it would have used the money to start paying teachers partly according to how well students perform on tests and to reward top teachers willing to work in tough school districts.

U.S. Education Department spokesman Justin Hamilton said the winners are: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. The amounts of the grants are expected to be announced later.

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.

The aim of the historic program is to reward ambitious changes to improve schools and close the achievement gap.

Tennessee and Delaware were named winners in the first round of the competition in March, sharing $600 million. The applicants named winners today will share a remaining $3.4 billion.