Race To The Top Round Two Finalists

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced that 18 states and the District of Columbia are the finalists for more than $3 billion available in the second round of funding in the Race to the Top program.

The 19 finalists are: Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

The finalists will travel to Washington during the week of Aug. 9 to present their plans to the peer reviewers who scored their applications. After the state's presentations and an extended question-and-answer period, the peer reviewers will finalize their scores and comments. The Department intends to announce the winners of the competition in September.

The non-profit Hechinger Report put together a package on round-two finalists, including a Q&A with Delaware’s Secretary of Education, an interactive map that shows states’ first-round scores and the amount states are now eligible to win, a look at Arizona’s surprise selection, and predictions for which finalists will win a share of the remaining $3.4 billion.