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Education Funding

Colorado Circulates Race to the Top Petition

By Alyson Klein — August 21, 2009 1 min read
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If the competition for a slice of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund were a K-12 class, Colorado would be the kid sitting right up front, wearing gigantic glasses, furiously taking notes, and leaping up to answer every single one of the teacher’s questions.

The latest effort? A petition, sent to folks in Colorado, urging them to endorse the state’s bid.

Here’s the crux of their argument, as outlined by Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, who’s spearheading the state’s effort:

We have enacted some of the nation's most robust data-measurement policies so that students and teachers can determine what works -- and what doesn't. We fulfilled our promise to get young children off to a smart start by expanding high-quality preschool programs and full-day kindergarten. We have implemented the Colorado Achievement Plan For Kids -- a complete 21st century review and alignment of what we teach and how we assess student knowledge from preschool to graduate school. And we have initiated Colorado ASCENT, a groundbreaking statewide fifth-year program that allows students to earn a high school and associates degree simultaneously. These are just a handful of the future-oriented education reforms we have brought to Colorado. Imagine how much more our schools, teachers, and students can accomplish with additional federal funding.

Of course, the application process hasn’t even been finalized. And Colorado, like every other state, hasn’t been specific yet about what it would do with the money. The email says that the petition is being financed by the re-election campaign of Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat.

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