Connecticut Is Not A Round Two Race To The Top Finalist

Connecticut is not among the finalists in the second round of President Obama’s Race to the Top education competition.  But  the US Department of Education has awarded a large school funding grant to the state, anyway. 

State Representative Andrew Fleischmann describes it as a case of bad news/good news. "The bad news is we’re not a finalist in the 2nd round of Race to the Top which is extremely disappointing because we passed some of the most extensive legislation in the country. However we also received the good news that we’ll be getting an additional 146 million dollars in stimulus funds."

And 146 million dollars is a considerable amount says Fleischman. "Its nearly as much as we could have won through the Race to the Top competition"

The education stimulus money was awarded for Connecticut’s high quality data systems that track how kids do in school over time.

Data systems are also a key component of Race to the Top, so State Senator Thomas Gaffey admits its hard to understand why the state failed to make the competition’s short list. "'To try to decipher why the US Department of Education has awarded us over 146 million dollars for criteria that is very much the same as the criteria that we were being judged on under Race to the Top..I don’t know if it’s a case of just spreading as much money around as possible but it is mind boggling."

Both lawmakers say they hope the federal dollars will help to save teachers’ jobs and reduce class sizes. 

The US Department of Education named 18 states and the District of Columbia as round two Race to the Top finalists.  In a statement, Governor Rell said news that Connecticut was not among them was  “profoundly disappointing”.