According to Chris Nicastro, Missouri’s Commissioner of Education, Missouri was not chosen as one of the U.S. Department of Education 16 finalists for the Race to the Top program that has struck concern into so many Missourians.
Chris is remaining very positive about qualifying for the program in the near future:
Although Missouri is not among this group of finalists, we are not discouraged. We intend to keep pushing to implement significant and timely school reform measures in Missouri.
From the outset, we knew the competition for RT3 funding would be intense, and that most states would not be successful in the first phase. We worked very hard, though, to put together a bold, comprehensive proposal that provides clear direction for our work in the months ahead. We are receiving excellent feedback on our proposals, which will help us refine our application for second-round funding. There will be money left for states that chose to enter the Phase 2 competition. The second-round applications are due June 1.
We are creating five state-level “work groups” to assist us in strengthening our proposal in five key areas that are part of our RT3 application. This work is beginning immediately, and we invite interested stakeholders to be part of this process.
As a reminder, Sandra Davidson is hosting a Town Hall Meeting about Race to the Top at the Sullivan Elementary School Gymnasium on Washington Street on Monday, March 8th at 7:00pm.
Other speakers at the meeting will include Kasey Brzycki, education adviser for the Missouri Sovereignty Project, and Brian Nieves, State Representative from the 98th District.
The Warren County Patriots are also hosting a town hall about RTTT Thursday, March 11, 6:30 PM at the Belle Star Theater (112 E. Booneslick – Warrenton, Missouri) with State Representative Brian Nieves and Kasey Brzycki.
I hope Missouri will stay away from this Race to the Top program. It does nothing for education, costs taxpayers, and comes with very undesirable strings from the federal government. The more federal money and intervention from the government, the less children actually learn. Go back to teaching reading, writing, history, (not the revised versions being taught in some schools), and math. Leave the social issues out and put morals back in and a “miracle will happen.