North Carolina is one of 15 finalists to receive a cut of $4 billion for education funding, the U.S. Department of Education announced last week.
The award program, called Race to the Top, was offered last summer by President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan as part of the federal stimulus act
The grants award innovation around four areas: recruiting and developing teachers, turning around struggling schools, preparing pupils for a global economy and building computer programs to track students’ progress.
In its application filed Jan. 14, North Carolina said it outlined these goals in 2007. Among the local districts participating in the Race to the Top challenge are Wake and Mecklenburg counties. The state plans to graduate 80 percent of high school freshmen by the 2013-14 school year, and send 70 percent of its graduates to college.
“This is encouraging news for education in North Carolina — but our work isn’t over,” said Governor Perdue. “Every child in this state must graduate prepared to go on to college, a career or technical training, and we can accomplish that through innovation and rethinking the way we track our students’ progress. Race to the Top can help North Carolina move forward faster and more aggressively towards this goal.
The other finalists are Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The final awards will be announced in April. Another round of funding will come later for states who didn’t make the final cut.
“I’ll be traveling to D.C. later this month to speak to Secretary Duncan and the selection committee and tell them why North Carolina needs — and deserves — the Race to the Top funds,” Governor Perdue said. “Thank you to all of the educators, state and community leaders and others who have supported these efforts.”