New York Named Race to the Top Finalist (NY)

July 28, 2010

New York is one step closer.

The state is a finalists for up to $700 million in federal education funds as part of the Race to the Top competition.

The feds announced Tuesday that 18 states and the District of Columbia made the list to be considered for the second round of grants.

That’s up from 16 states last time – and there is no money attached to being a finalist.

The New York State was also a finalist in Round One, but didn’t make the final cut in March, when only Tennessee and Delaware took home the prize.

The crushing loss inspired Albany to make legislative changes to increase the state’s chances in Round Two, with hopes a beefed-up application would bring home badly needed education funding.

The changes allowed test scores to be used in teacher evaluations and raised the number of charter schools in the state to 460 from 200.

Also this time around, the state had the support of a higher percentage of its teachers unions.

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia entered the competition’s second round.

The finalists announced Tuesday are Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.