U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has at least one obsessive follower in Colorado’s state government.
Whenever Duncan speaks publicly, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien listens — poring over every sentence in Duncan’s speeches for clues about how Colorado can win a slice of the competitive $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. We either do it right this time or it won’t happen again,” O’Brien said. “We are approaching this as if we are writing a blueprint for Colorado for the next two decades.”
Duncan is dangling the billions of extra stimulus money to encourage state education reform but has given only cursory guidelines on how to win the money.
Today, Duncan will reveal draft guidelines for Race to the Top grant proposals, which are due in December. Winners will be announced next March.
The Race to the Top money is part of $100 billion in education spending in the $787 billion American Recovery and Investment Act.
O’Brien says Colorado could receive up to $500 million.
To be eligible for the money, states should focus on four reform goals: using data to drive instruction; raising standards; turning around historically low-performing schools; and improving teacher and principal quality, the U.S. Department of Education said in a press release.
O’Brien said Colorado has been working to build “a track record to show we have been working in these areas. That was part of our strategy.” She added that Colorado is developing systems that hit each of the reform goals.
“We’re in good shape because we have already been doing some of the work,” she said.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, it incorrectly quoted Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien on how much Colorado is eligible to receive in Race to the Top funding. The correct amount is $500 million.
