Kentucky Still in Race for Educational Funding
LOUISVILLE, KY (WEKU) - Kentucky was on the list of 16 finalists the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday in the running for more than $4 billion in Race to the Top funds.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan made the announcement. Duncan says the department would interview representatives from the 16 finalists in mid March and announce the eventual winners in April.

Kentucky has applied for $200 million in Race to the Top funds. Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday says his department is already preparing for its presentation.

"What we're doing is trying to make sure that we have all the right team members," he says. "And we're looking at all the other applications and saying, what's different about Kentucky that we can make sure to reinforce at the presentation, and just making sure that we have good, clear deployment plans ready to go to work."

Holliday says the news is encouraging at a time when education is facing budget cuts.

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