Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and eight other governors have asked the Obama administration to extend the deadline for applying for a second round of Race to the Top grants for schools to July 1.
California, which passed a series of bills aimed at winning the competitive grants , was not one of 16 states that were named finalists in the first phase for $4.35 billion in federal stimulus funds.
Applications for the second round of funding are due June 1, but Schwarzenegger and the other governors wrote in a letter sent yesterday to Education Secretary Arne Duncan that they need more time to adjust to reviews the Education Department is set to deliver explaining the inadequacies in the first funding try. They also urged Duncan to release the application critiques as soon as possible.
"Our states need more time to properly evaluate the changes needed to resubmit our applications, as well as to engage in meaningful and collaborative discussions with our legislatures, our schools, our unions, and our communities," the letter reads. "We need to make informed changes to our applications, whether in the area of evaluations, turnarounds, standards, or data collection. "
The full letter is posted after the jump.
March 16, 2010
The Honorable Arne Duncan
Secretary
United States Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, Southwest
Washington, DC 20202
Dear Secretary Duncan,
As Governors - Republicans and Democrats alike - we were proud to stand with President Obama, and with you, to bring about real systemic change in education through the Race to the Top competition. Under the first phase of competition, you saw forty states and the District of Columbia respond to your call. While only fifteen states and the District of Columbia were selected as finalists for Phase One, we all remain committed to pursuing necessary reforms to help ensure that our states' applications are competitive for the second phase of funding.
The finalists were announced on March 4, with applications for next round due less than 90 days later on June 1. You also announced that our comments and feedback on our applications would not be available until sometime in April, which would further reduce that already short timeline for meaningful course correction to fewer than 60 days.
Our states need more time to properly evaluate the changes needed to resubmit our applications, as well as to engage in meaningful and collaborative discussions with our legislatures, our schools, our unions, and our communities. We need to make informed changes to our applications, whether in the area of evaluations, turnarounds, standards, or data collection. These changes will be stronger if they are informed by the comments of those who reviewed our initial application.
Therefore, we request that you considerably accelerate the timeline for release of peer reviewers' comments and scores from Phase One or extend the deadline to submit our Phase 2 application until July 1, 2010; so our states can continue the necessary hard work, without losing momentum, to reform education and apply for Race to the Top Phase Two.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
California
Governor Mark Parkinson
Kansas
Governor Brad Henry
Oklahoma
Governor M. Michael Rounds
South Dakota
Governor M. Jodi Rell
Connecticut
Governor John H. Lynch
New Hampshire
Governor Theodore R. Kulongoski
Oregon
Governor Robert F. McDonnell
Virginia
Governor Joe Manchin III
West Virginia
Latest posts:
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.