The Obama administration has allocated 3.5 billion dollars for the improvement of education in a program called Race to the Top. The program directed at K-12 is the largest in the nation’s history.
Delaware and Tennessee, with many difficult school districts, were the first round winners with 100% participation. Montgomery County, with 11 districts participating, will receive a little less than 4 million dollars.
Participating school districts will form groups represented by administration, teachers and the school board to draft a plan for improvement. The goals of the Race to the Top in Ohio include increasing graduation rates, reducing the performance gap and increasing college enrollment. Currently 537 schools districts will share approximately 200 of the 400 million tax dollars coming back to the state with a sufficient level of participating districts. For the sake of the state, community and the children every district should participate.
In education, as in all of life’s endeavors, if you are not racing for the top, you are probably sinking to the bottom. We live in a competitive global world and failure to compete at a high level will assure our children a third-world existence in a fairly short period of time.
Does anyone know the status of Darke County school districts on this stimulus program designed to return our tax dollars to the community in behalf of the children?
Charles E. Reier MD, Rebecca A. Reier
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