Arizona’s a Surprise Finalist for RttT Dollars
We always tell kids that set-backs shouldn’t discourage them. If at first you don’t succeed– try harder. The State of Arizona did just that and found itself a finalist in the second round of the Race to the Top (RttT) grant competition. The Hechinger Report‘s Liz Willen reports:
Ann-Eve Pedersen of the Arizona Education Network says she can think of just one reason why the economically depressed state became a surprise finalist on Tuesday in the second round of the $4 billion Race to the Top competition, after finishing 40th out of 41 competitors in March.
Arizona received the stunning news that it had beat out 17 states and could be eligible for between $150-250 million after U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced 18 other second-round finalists in the federal competition on Tuesday.
Arizona’s Republican Governor Jan Brewer called the state’s turnaround “a very significant and important milestone in Arizona’s comeback. …after scoring so low in the first round, we did not give up – instead we pushed even harder for the education reforms we know are critical regardless of federal funding.”
Whether or not you’re a fan of Race to the Top, you’ve got to give Arizona credit for not quitting something they’d set out to achieve.
