Race to the Top
Under the provisions of the Race to the Top Fund, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will award $4.35 billion on a competitive basis to states that make significant progress in achieving equity in teacher distribution, improving collection and use of data, enhancing the quality of academic standards and assessments, and supporting struggling schools.
States that do not allow the establishment of charter schools, or that put artificial caps on the number of charter schools, will jeopardize their applications for Race to the Top funds. However, the Louisiana Legislature recently voted to eliminate the restriction on the number of charter schools that can operate in the state, making Louisiana better poised to compete for these highly-coveted funds.
Louisiana is also one of 15 states that has been awarded grants from the prestigious Gates Foundation to assist in preparing the state’s application for Race to the Top funds.
For more information, please contact Patrick Dobard, deputy director of legislative services, at (225) 342-2573, or Jill Slack, director of literacy and numeracy, at (225) 342-6025.
Funding
States will compete for a share of $4.35 billion to be awarded on a competitive basis. State education agencies that receive the Race to the Top Funds must give at least 50 percent of the grants to local school districts in subgrants.
Timeline
Race to the Top funds will be available in two rounds: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010.
