Secretary Duncan will be ending the opportunity for public comment regarding Race to the Top. Race to the Top is a new grant program as stipulated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This new program has $4.3 billion in competitive funding to the states. The guidelines appear to be rigorous at this time. It emphasizes components that many advocates know are important: creation of more charter schools and most importantly longitudinal data systems to track student performance. As we remember Senator Kennedy, we cannot forget what a champion he was for education. His leadership with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) won bipartisanship approval for passage. A major component of NCLB is data driving instruction plus following children to determine their success in literacy development. Race to the Top is reflecting this landmark legislation.

I remember hearing the Senator speak at Georgetown in fall 2001 at the White House Early Childhood Summit. He spoke so eloquently about children in early childhood having programs that emphasize what is needed to prepare them for kindergarten. Let us hope USDOE’s Race to the Top reflects that vision as well. Hopefully, the funding allotments for early childhood in this grant program will be increased.

Lisa Guernsey with New America Foundation reminds us that more than 650 have made comments thus far. You might want to join in!

To make a public comment, go to regulations.gov and do a search for Race to the Top.