Every Thursday, REL-NEI highlights state-based resources, press releases, and news around the Northeast and Islands Region related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For a listing of REL Issues & Answers Reports categorized under ARRA topics and domains, click here.
Five States in Region Apply to Race to the Top
Five states in the Northeast and Islands Region—Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island—were among 40 states nationwide, along with the District of Columbia, to submit applications by the January 19th deadline for the first-round of federal Race to the Top (RTTT) funding. (Read the press release or an EdWeek article.) Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), RTTT is offering $4.35 billion in competitive grants to states that demonstrate to the Obama Administration that they are committed to education reform. The U.S. Education Department (ED) will announce the first round of winners and losers in April, and second-round applications are due June 1st.
On Monday, January 18th, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed education-reform legislation just in time to strengthen the state’s RTTT application. The new bill will “greatly increase the number of charter schools, grant superintendents the power to overhaul failing districts, and make the state eligible for up to $250 million in federal stimulus money,” according to The Boston Globe.
In New York, Gov. David Paterson and state legislative leaders failed to reach a compromise by Tuesday’s deadline to double the number of charter schools in the state, which many people believe would improve New York’s chances of receiving up to $700 million from RTTT. Paterson called the Legislature into session Monday night, but both the State Senate and State Assembly refused to put a bill to a vote, reports The New York Times.
The same day the applications were due, President Obama announced plans to seek $1.35 billion from Congress in next year’s budget to extend RTTT for another year and to open it up to school districts. Districts would have their own grant contest and would not have to compete against or rely on their states. Read the press release.
On January 21st, the Vermont Department of Education posted on its website resources about the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) Program, including links to Vermont’s completed Phase I and Phase II applications. The Phase II application (PDF) was submitted to ED on January 11th. Part of ARRA, the SFSF program provides approximately $48.6 billion in formula grants to states to help stabilize state and local budgets in order to minimize and avoid reductions in education and other essential services, in exchange for a state’s commitment to advance essential education reform in key areas. Approximately $12.6 billion will be awarded under SFSF Phase II. Vermont already has been awarded more than $77 million from SFSF to distribute to school districts over fiscal years 2010 and 2011. (View the allocation of funds to all states from SFSF Phase I.)
The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) also has posted its application (PDF) for Phase II of SFSF, which it submitted on January 8th. Nearly $135 million for education from SFSF already has been allocated to the state.
For more information, visit these ARRA-related websites across the Northeast and Islands Region:
U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html
State Recovery Sites
http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/state-local-tribal-and-territorial-resources
State Education Agency Recovery Sites
Education Week’s “Schools and the Stimulus”
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/schools-stimulus/index.html
