La. enters third round of Race to the Top

Today, the Louisiana Department of Education submitted its application to compete in round three of the federal government’s Race to the Top program. Only nine states that were runners-up in phase two are eligible to apply for phase three and a share of the $200 million education grant. Two states, South Carolina and California, did not submit complete applications. Based on Louisiana’s population, Louisiana is eligible for $17.4 million. Round three is designed to encourage states to place emphasis on enriching science, technology, engineering and mathematics—so-called STEM—initiatives. As in previous rounds, applicants must identify districts and charter schools that have signed on to directly participate in their state’s Race to the Top plan. For round three, 20 districts and 28 charter schools in Louisiana voluntarily signed on as Participating Local Education Agencies. Collectively, these districts and charter schools represent more than 37% of Louisiana’s public school student population, 41% of the state’s total free- and reduced-meal population, and nearly 47% of Louisiana’s minority student population. While the federal program requires states to designate at least 50% of their grant award to participating LEAs, Louisiana’s round-three application exceeds this requirement, calling for 57%. The U.S. Department of Education is scheduled to announce phase three awards in later this month. Race to the Top was authorized through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and aims to stimulate states to implement bold education reform. The Department of Education awarded approximately $4 billion to 12 states under phases one and two of the competition.