Monday, building on the progress of certification, the St.Louis Board of Education along with 60 other applicants were announced as a finalist by the U.S. Department of Education for the Race to the Top-District (RTTT-D) competition. The 2012 RTTT-D program will provide close to $400 million to support locally developed plans to personalize and deepen student learning, directly improve student achievement and educator effectiveness, close achievement gaps, and prepare every student for success in college and careers.
The 61 finalists, representing more than 200 school districts, were selected from 372 applications the Department of Education received in November to demonstrate how districts could personalize education for students and provide school leaders and teachers with key tools that support them to meet students’ needs.
The Department expects to select 15-25 winning applications from the Race to the Top-District competition for four-year awards that will range from $5 million to $40 million, depending on the population of students served through the plan. Awards will be announced no later than Dec. 31, 2012.
The Department has posted the list of districts that submitted an application on its website: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-district/index.html. The list includes all districts that applied and does not indicate their eligibility for the competition.
