A new education initiative called Race to the Top, which will funnel $4.35 billion in Recovery Act money to states that agree to school reform, launched July 24. Education Secretary Arne Duncan joined President Barack Obama at the Education Department in Washington, D.C., to announce the program, which was billed as a historic opportunity to use an unprecedented amount of federal discretionary dollars to encourage state-level education reform, such as increasing the number of charter schools, boosting math and science courses and paying teachers for performance. Comments are now invited on the program priorities, with applications expected to be invited later this year. More information is at the Education Department’s website.
