 Top Illinois education officials, including State Superintendent
Chris Koch, will speak in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to support
the state's bid in the federal education grant competition.
Illinois fell short with its preliminary bid earlier this year, when
only two states, Tennessee and Delaware, earned competitive Race to
the Top grants.
About $3.6 billion is still up for grabs in Phase 2 of the
competition, and Illinois is vying with 18 other finalists to get
its share -- about $400 million.
The Department of Education could award 10 to 15 winners,
depending on the size of the winners.
In order to win the grants, states and the District of Columbia
must demonstrate a willingness to comply with a series of reforms
sought by the U.S. Department of Education.
The reforms include implementing in-class, performance-based
standards for teachers and improving data gathering on student
learning.
Ben Boer, director of policy with education advocacy group
Advance Illinois, said Illinois has strengthened its application for
this round.
"The weaknesses were identified by the federal government in the
first round. The state worked on those weaknesses and had already
been working on those weaknesses," he said.
As an example, Boer said that lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn helped
the state's Race to the Top prospects with a new law that
strengthens assessment and certification standards on prospective
school principals.
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The state also improved its application by signing on more school
districts to the Race to the Top program. ISBE spokesman Matt
Vanover said the state's previous application named 368 districts,
or 42 percent of the state's districts, willing to enact Race to the
Top changes.
The state's current application named 524 districts, almost 60
percent of the state's districts, ready to participate in Race to
the Top.
"The administrators that signed on saw that these reforms that
the state approved are going to be moving forward. And $400 million
will help them get there quicker and more efficiently versus having
to wait for that money to come by other means," Vanover said.
The federal government is expected to name Phase 2 winners by the
end of August or beginning of September.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By KEVIN LEE]
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