KPLU Local News
(2010-07-27)
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US Education Secretary Arne Duncan says Washington State made positive education strides despite losing its Race To The Top bid.
AP Photo
Washington State is out of the running for the federal government's Race To The Top grant program. The state is not among the finalists that will go forward in the competition for billions of dollars in school funding. But state education officials say all is not lost.
Every state couldn't come out a winner in the Race To The Top contest. So Washington State officials were ready with a "chins up" response when their application didn't make the cut.
The governor and superintendent of public instruction said in a statement that "the news doesn't mean the end of meaningful education reform in Washington."
US Education Secretary Arne Duncan commended the state's good sportsmanship.
"That spirit of Washington is exactly what we want to see around the country. That's it's really not about the money," he says. "It's about a commitment and a courage and a willingness to collaborate to drive reform at the local level."
That doesn't mean the state didn't want to win. Superintendent Randy Dorn says without the cash, it's more difficult to make reforms.
"We're slashing the ability to train and retrain teachers and to improve instruction," he says. "So that was the hope that this money could be used for that."
Dorn says while the state doesn't have the money, it does have a reform plan because of Race To The Top. It also has buy-in from the teachers unions.
He says the next step is to find other funding sources. He plans to work with the governor to finalize the reform plan this fall.
Washington is still in contention for one piece of the Race To The Top pie. It joined a team of states that's competing to create a national standardized test.
A decision on that will be made in September.
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