The president of the states’ largest education employees organization today expressed both disappointment and optimism upon learning that Illinois won’t receive first round funding from the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) program.
According to Illinois Education Association (IEA) President Ken Swanson, while a first round RTTT grant would have been great for Illinois, he’s hopeful that some of that much-neededfunding could find its way to the Land of Lincoln in later rounds.
“The winners announced today, Delaware and Tennessee, submitted applications reflecting collaboration between education employee unions, their state boards of education and other education stakeholders,” Swanson said. “IEA has similar relationships with the Illinois education stakeholders and that’s one of the keys to getting RTTT funding.”
“To qualify, everyone at the negotiating table must be willing to co-develop a good plan that will yield long-lasting, sustainable results. That’s what we did with the State Board and the other stakeholders” he added.
The federal Race to the Top program allows states to compete for more than $4 billion in federal education money for the purposes of improving education through innovation and data-driven decisions.
There were 16 finalists for the 1st rounds and Illinois placed fifth. Three of the top five states, the two winners and Illinois, had support from their National Education Association (NEA)-affiliated unions. Florida and Georgia rounded out the top five.
NEA also commented on the RTTT announcement, saying that the U.S. Department of Education, “…is signaling that states must have collaborative partnerships and comprehensive plans that demonstrate high standards if their applications will be considered viable in future phases of the Race to the Top program.”
The next step in the process is for applicants who did not receive RTTT funds to analyze the comments from the federal evaluators and determine whether any changes in the application are needed or wanted.
Applications for second round funding are due June 1, with recipients to be named in September.