Playing catch up following the holidays and the birth of our second child ... here are the major Race to the Top updates a week before round 1 applications are due on January 19th...NATIONAL
39 States and DC to apply in round one (U.S. Department of Education)
'Race To Top' Viewed as Template for a New ESEA (Education Week)
'Race To Top' Driving Policy Action Across States (Education Week)
Two State Unions Balking at 'Race To Top' Plans (Education Week)
CALIFORNIA
Assembly passes reform bill (Sacramento Bee)
Governor signs bill to improve state eligibility in Race; opposed by teachers' unions (Los Angeles Times)
Governor seeks to ease teacher firings (Los Angeles Times)
COLORADO
Summary of state plan (INDenver Times)
FLORIDA
Unions: State RttT plan is 'fatally flawed' (Orlando Sentinel)
Editorial: Unions must not walk (Miami Herald)
Editorial: Racing to the top (Orlando Sentinel)
ILLINOIS
Editorial: State legislature to be asked to pass teacher evaluation bill (Chicago Tribune)
KENTUCKY
State to be first to adopt new national academic standards (Lexington Herald-Leader)
LOUISIANA
Less than half of school district sign onto plan (New Orleans Times Picayune)
MASSACHUSETTS
House passes reform bill, would empower superintendents (Boston Globe)
MICHIGAN
Governor Signs Reform Legislation (AP)
MEA, AFT Leaders Told Their Support Isn't Needed (The Grand Rapids Press)
89 Percent of State Schools on Board (The Detroit News)
NEVADA
Governor proposes ban on collective bargaining, repeal of data firewall law (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
NEW JERSEY
Out-going, in-coming governors complicate state application (Eduflack)
Editorial: Race to the bottom (Bergen Record)
NEW YORK
Governor presses for education reforms, including lift of charter cap (New York Times)
City wants state charter cap lifted before signing onto RttT application (Gotham Schools)
OHIO
State seeks to avoid union controversy? (Flypaper via Teacher Beat)
RHODE ISLAND
Teachers unions balking at supporting application (Providence Journal)
TENNESSEE
Teachers' unions sign onto plan to tie student test scores to teacher evaluations (The Commercial Appeal)
Governor's education bills to be consider during special legislative session (The Tennessean In Session blog)
Special session on Race to the Top begins tomorrow (Memphis Daily News)
UTAH
Plan unveiled (The Salt Lake Tribune)
WISCONSIN
State lagging in Race to the Top (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
State seeks $254 million; application won't address mayoral control in Milwaukee (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
WYOMING
State finalizes application (Casper Star-Tribune)