The Education Department has awarded $3.3 billion to nine states and the District of Columbia to enact school-improvement proposals. The states—Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island—join Delaware and Tennessee, which won federal grants in March, as winners of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top competition.
Educators in other states criticized the competition, saying its guidelines favored densely populated Eastern states. The critics said the administration’s favored programs, such as creating charter schools to compete with conventional public schools, aren’t as useful in rural, less-populous states.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Twitter: Breaking the Bird – a 'riveting' documentaryThe Week Recommends BBC2's 'fascinating' film charts the social media platform's fall from grace
-
Detentions and hostile treatment: is it safe to visit the US?The Explainer Spate of interrogations and deportations at US border sparking decline in overseas visitors
-
The financial changes to expect in 'Awful April'The Explainer As the new financial year begins, it brings changes for bills, wages and tax
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
-
US election: where things stand with one week to goThe Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
-
Is Trump okay?Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
-
The life and times of Kamala HarrisThe Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
