Ohio Will Receive $400M In 'Race To Top' Funds

COLUMBUS, Ohio --  Ohio has been selected as one of the 10 winning states to be funded in round 2 of the Race to the Top program.

Governor Ted Strickland and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Deborah Delisle said the U.S. Department of Education has selected Ohio as one of the winning states to be funded in Round 2 of the Race to the Top program.

Ohio will receive $400 million in Race to the Top funds during the next four years, according to Strickland's office.

Delisle said she danced along Broad Street on her way to a news conference about Ohio's selection.  "This is really an historic moment for Ohio. In four years, we'll look back and this is a real turning point for education reform for students," she said.

South-Western City Schools, Gahanna-Jefferson Schools and New Albany-Plain Local Schools did not apply for the funds, but most other Franklin County districts signed memorandums of understanding to qualify.

The U.S. Education Department said Tuesday that nine states and the District of Columbia will get money to reform schools in the second round of the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" grant competition.

Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., will receive grants, department spokesman Justin Hamilton said. The amounts for each state were expected to be announced later.

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

Tennessee and Delaware were named winners in the first round of the competition in March, sharing $600 million. The applicants named winners Tuesday will share a remaining $3.4 billion. Another $350 million is coming in a separate competition for states creating new academic assessments.

The historic program, part of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, rewards states for embarking on ambitious reforms to improve struggling schools, close the achievement gap and boost graduation rates.

"New York's schools have made strong strides toward excellence and this grant will accelerate that progress," said U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who met with Education Secretary Arne Duncan on New York's proposal. "This is great news for parents, teachers, and taxpayers across the state."

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia applied for the second round of the competition. The Education Department named 19 applicants finalists in July.

More than a dozen states vying for the money changed laws to foster the growth of charter schools, and at least 17 reformed teacher evaluation systems to include student achievement. Dozens also adopted Common Core State Standards, the uniform math and reading benchmarks developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association.

"The change unleashed by conditioning federal funding on bold and forward-looking state education policies is indisputable," the Democrats for Education Reform said in a statement. "Under the president's leadership, local civil rights, child advocacy, business and education reform groups, in collaboration with those state and local teacher unions ready for change, sprung into action to achieve things that they had been waiting and wanting to do for years."

In a speech announcing the finalists last month, Duncan called the change a "quiet revolution."

Between both rounds of the competition, a total of 46 states and the District of Columbia applied.

While the program has been praised for instigating swift reforms, the competition for many states was an uphill battle, with teacher unions hesitant to sign on to reforms directly tying teacher evaluations to student performance on standardized tests, and education leaders concerned winning meant giving up too much local control.

A number of states that did not win the competition said they still planned to proceed with the reforms they had proposed, though they acknowledged change would take place at a slower pace.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Superintendent of Public Instruction Deborah Delisle will hold a press conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss Race to the Top.  

Strickland's office released the following late Tuesday morning:

“I want to thank Secretary Duncan and the Obama administration for this opportunity to implement what I believe is a visionary education plan for Ohio’s children. Our students deserve every opportunity to succeed in and beyond the classroom, and I believe the creative and forward-thinking initiatives outlined in our winning application provide just that,” Strickland said. “Ohio has shown its commitment to encouraging innovation by passing successful economic development initiatives like Ohio Third Frontier, and this award builds on our job creation strategy by helping prepare the next generation of Ohio entrepreneurs and innovators.”

“I give my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our education and community partners who supported this application, and our dedicated team of education leaders who worked tirelessly on behalf of Ohio’s children,” Strickland said.

The Round 2 Race to the Top application was submitted by the Ohio Department of Education in June. In total, more than 538 Local Education Agencies, representing more than 60 percent, or about 1 million, of Ohio’s school children, agreed to participate directly in Ohio’s Race to the Top activities. Ohio was selected as a finalist in late July and a team from Ohio made a presentation and answered questions from U.S. Department of Education reviewers earlier this month.

“I am ecstatic that the USDoE recognized the bold initiatives and high expectations Ohio put forth in its Race to the Top application,” Delisle said. “The initiatives, which are the centerpiece of our “Fifth to First in Four” strategy, exemplify what it means to be courageous as educators, leaders, parents and students. We must do everything we can to challenge our students and ensure they have access to a world-class education.”

Ohio’s application built upon many of the activities of the education reform plan outlined in House Bill 1, and the priorities placed on education during the last two decades. During the creation of the Round 2 application, KidsOhio and the Ohio Grantmakers Forum, Inc. played an instrumental role in bringing together representatives from different education groups. They brought together more than 100 individuals representing 70 organizations to attend editorial and review sessions. From these experts, the Ohio Department of Education was able to add clarity, more detail and evidence to the Round 2 application.

“Our work will begin immediately with school districts and community schools which have agreed to be part of our effort to transform education in Ohio and build on the tremendous progress that has been made over the last decade,” Delisle said. “I would like to thank the numerous individuals who helped put our application together, and the dozens of groups which supported our efforts and provided input during the creation of our application. Our collective effort has been recognized and, on behalf of Ohio’s schoolchildren, I thank each of you for your dedication to improving education.”

“I would also like to congratulate the other states that were selected to receive funding, as well as Delaware and Tennessee who received funding in Round 1 of Race to the Top,” Delisle added. “I anticipate that we will learn much from one another as we proceed with each of our plans. Our students all deserve a world-class education that can only be offered if we all begin thinking innovatively.”

The U.S. Department of Education provided prescriptive guidance in terms of centering the reform work on four specific areas: standards and assessments; data systems to support instruction; great teachers and leaders; and turning around the lowest-achieving schools.

The funds will be used to support Race to the Top activities either directly through Ohio schools districts or through state-supported initiatives. Under terms of the grant, at least half of the funds Ohio must be distributed directly to participating schools. A list of participating schools and funding amounts can be found at www.rttt.education.ohio.gov.

“We will make every effort possible to ensure that the participating schools are able to carry out the initiatives they identify in their action plans,” Delisle said.

A total of 538 public school districts and community schools signed memoranda of understanding to participate in Ohio’s Race to the Top efforts. Of those students participating, the award will impact 81.5 percent of African-American students, 73 percent of Hispanic students, and 66.3 percent of economically disadvantaged students statewide. The Ohio Department of Education will begin working with each entity on its implementation plan. Plans must be submitted by November.

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