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A Few Clouds Rockville Centre schools to see little of federal Race to the Top funds
Last week, New York state won nearly $700 million in federal Race to the Top money, which it will use for education.
The goal of the program is to encourage states to reform their schools and curriculums to become more competitive. To do this, states are adopting tougher standards (as evidenced by New York's changing the standards for its state tests), linking teacher evaluations with student performance and more closely tracking student progress.
"I am proud to announce that ... New York state has been awarded $696,646,000 in Race to the Top Round II stimulus education funding," Gov. David Paterson said in a release. "During these difficult economic times, this funding will go a long way to ensure that our state's children are given greater opportunity and access to a quality education. This new funding will help provide the foundation for academic success and the emergence of a new generation of leaders and achievers for New York state."
New York was one of only 10 states, along with the District of Columbia, that was awarded money in the federal Department of Education-run initiative. The other winners were Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. New York was awarded some of the highest funding -- Florida was the only other state to be awarded nearly $700 million.
New York lost out on an earlier round of Race to the Top money because the Legislature would not raise the cap on the number of charter schools allowed in the state. The Legislature managed to work together for the second round, raising the charter school cap while passing its other initiatives, including linking teacher evaluations to student performance, something it had to work with teachers' unions to achieve.
Although he is uncertain of exactly how much Rockville Centre schools stand to receive, Superintendent Dr. William Johnson said he’s expecting a very small amount and that the program will have a minimal impact on Rockville Centre’s schools.
