Race to the Top Coalition: Investing in Our Children’s Future Our Purpose and Messages (PDF)
	Massachusetts to Continue Pursuit for Race to the Top Education Funds (Secretary Reville press release).
	Read the Massachusetts RTTT application.
	April 1, 2010 Memorandum from Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, to Superintendents and Charter School Leaders.
	Provide feedback for the application for Round Two (survey open until April 16, 2010).
	Read the Race to the Top Coalition's Statement on the Final Passage of the education reform legislation.
	Read An Act Relative to the Achievement Gap, the Massachusetts education reform legislation.
	Read The Boston Globe Op/Ed by Christopher Anderson and Paul S. Grogan.
	Multimedia Presentations View video clips of the Race to the Top Coalition launch and press conference. Listen to the radio advertisement run by the Race to the Top Coalition in support of education reform.

Join the Race to the Top Coalition mailing list.

Read the Race to the Top Coalition's statement on the decision of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts to withdraw its support for the state’s Race to the Top application in its 18 districts.

First Round of RTTT Funds Awarded

On March 29, 2010 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that there were only two winners in Phase One of the federal Race to the Top challenge for education stimulus funding -- Tennessee and Delaware. Massachusetts came in 13th out of 16 states, with 411.4 total points out of a possible 500. Delaware garnered 454.4 and Tennessee received 444.2.

The other 14 finalist states, of which Massachusetts was one, all are able to move on to the second round of the funding competition, with applications due June 1 and announcements made in September. Our go-forward efforts as a Coalition will be highly focused on helping the state prepare an even better application for the second round and securing up to $250 million in September. As a stakeholder, you are encouraged to provide feedback to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education before Friday, April 16, 2010.

While we are disappointed by this news, we are heartened that Massachusetts scored so high in several categories, particularly turning around the lowest achieving schools and articulating a comprehensive reform agenda -- two areas in which our Coalition was particularly supportive.

There are a few selection criteria in which Massachusetts appears to have lost many points, including adoption of common standards, using evaluations to measure teacher and principal effectiveness, and ensuring successful conditions for high-performing charter and other innovative schools. The Commonwealth also was marked down for not having secured as many school districts to sign on to the application, despite strong efforts by state and local officials. Secretary Duncan repeatedly mentioned this as a key criterion in the conference call announcing the awards today. Both Tennessee and Delaware secured nearly 100 percent of local school district participation.

Even though the next round of the competition is open to the remaining 48 states, the fact that Massachusetts made it to the final 16 to start with puts us in a very competitive position going forward. It is also worth noting that the Commonwealth is the only remaining state in its size category that was a first-round finalist. The Race to the Top Coalition will be reactivating its efforts and reengaging its close working relationship with state and local officials to strengthen the Commonwealth's application in Round 2. We also look forward to more expert analysis and guidance from those officials and others, and will keep you posted as to how you will be asked to continue to help support our Race to the Top.