The US Department of Education recently awarded 10 grants to applicants of the second phase of the Race to the Top program. We at CPI would like to congratulate these states on their accomplishment.

The Phase 2 winners are the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

Over the first and second phases of the program, 46 states and the District of Columbia applied for Race to the Top grants, which made the application process extremely competitive.

According to the US Department of Education, awards were given to the states with the most ambitious, yet achievable plans for implementing educational reform, who may serve as examples for other states..

In order to apply for the funding, states were asked to develop reform programs in four specific areas, including adoption of standards to help prepare students to succeed in college, building of data systems to measure student growth and success, and recruiting, developing, and rewarding effective teachers where they are needed most, as well as turning around lowest-achieving schools.

In our conversations with schools, we were pleased to hear that some Race to the Top funding would be used to provide CPI training as part of the requirement for development of effective teachers, helping to provide Care, Welfare, Safety, and SecuritySM in these environments.

Race to the Top is a $4.35 billion fund. Additional funds have been requested in hopes of providing a possible third phase of funding next year.

With these funding awards, 13.6 million students and 980,000 teachers in 25,000 schools will now be able to participate in groundbreaking educational reform.

To read more about the Phase 2 winners, read Nine States and the District of Columbia Win Second Round Race to the Top Grants.