COLORADO TO APPLY FOR ROUND 2 OF “RACE TO THE TOP” FUNDING

Gov. Bill Ritter, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien and Education Commissioner Dwight Jones announced today that Colorado will resubmit an application for Round 2 of Race to the Top education-reform funding.

Over the past week, Gov. Ritter, Lt. Gov. O’Brien and Commissioner Jones have reviewed the feedback and scoring results from the Round 1 application and talked with numerous education stakeholders from around Colorado. The three met this morning and decided it is in the best interest of Colorado students to re-apply for the federal grant funding.

"Colorado has broken new ground with student-centered reforms over the past three years," Gov. Ritter said. "We put together a solid Race to the Top application for Round 1 that would have allowed us to build on and accelerate the reforms that will allow all children in Colorado to reach their God-given potential. Our Round 2 application will make an even stronger case for how we will improve student achievement, turn around struggling schools and improve educator effectiveness."

Colorado’s Race to the Top team will continue to review the Round 1 comments and submit the application for Round 2 by the June 1 deadline.

“We must reduce the achievement gap, turn around struggling schools and provide the best education possible for our students,” said Lt. Gov. O’Brien. “We are committed to accelerating education reform in Colorado and our Round 2 application will be a coordinated effort to ensure our children’s success.”

“Moving forward for round two is the right decision for Colorado students, teachers and schools,” said Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones. “We will scrutinize every comment from the first round and look for every opportunity to improve Colorado’s application while staying true to the reform plans we have already put in motion. We appreciate Gov. Ritter’s ongoing support of the effort to access these resources in order to improve Colorado’s chances for success.”