CEC Policy Insider

Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Winners Announced

On Friday, December 16, the Obama Administration announced the winners of the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge. California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington state will each receive a portion of the $500 million allotted for this grant.

 Race to the Top is the Administration’s keystone education initiative which allows states to compete for grant money for innovative programs to make schools more effective. Of the 35 states who applied for these grants to improve their pre-kindergarten educational programs, the nine winners will receive between $50 and $100 million.  Budgets will be finalized after discussions between the grantees and the Department, and states will draw down funds in accordance with their plans.

Round Three of the Race-to-the-Top Grants Now Open

Two weeks ago, the nine finalists for the Race-to-the-Top grants were able to begin the application process for the $200 million available through round three. These applications will be tailored to focus on an aspect of their Race-to-the-Top plans which will include investments in advancing science, technology and mathematics. The first part of the application will consist of assurances of commitment to education reform in their state, while the second part (once the first is approved) will consist of detailed action plan and budget. The deadline for the first part is November 22, and the deadline for the second part is December 16. The awards will be announced in late December.

Due to the funds available, the nine round two finalist states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina) will be eligible to receive awards for between $12 and $49 million, depending on the population. The Race-to-the-Top grants are part of an education reform initiative announced by President Obama to spark ingenuity in education reform, and it is a program the administration hopes to continue to fund in the 2012 budget with a $900 million district-level grant competition.

Department of Education Announces first ever Office for Early Learning

Last week at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Conference, Senior Advisor on Early Learning Jacqueline Jones announced the Department of Education’s plan to create the first ever Office for Early Learning. The object of this new office will be to correct the isolation in which federal early learning programs and funds have functioned and provide the strong coordinated collaboration necessary to dramatically improve early learning services.

House Proposal Would Raise IDEA Funds; Other Education Programs Cut

Although the 2012 Federal Fiscal Year began over the weekend, Congress has still not agreed on how much funding to allocate to education. In September, the Senate acted. But shortly thereafter, the process stalled. Right now, the government is operating under a short term measure called a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through November 18.

States Ready to Apply for $500 Million for Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge

Just minutes after an earthquake shook Washington, DC, Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education and Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced the release of the final application for the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, the $500 million State-level competitive initiative which seeks to support coordinated birth through five programs to support early learning.