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PrintE-mailOklahoma misses cut in Race to the Top

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Published: 03/04/10 - 12:27pm Written by Dick Pryor

LoansOKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma is not among the states making the first cut in the competition for federal Race to the Top education grants.  According to a statement issued by the office of Governor Brad Henry: 

Gov. Brad Henry today said Oklahoma will continue efforts to land a multi-million dollar federal education grant even though the state did not make the first cut in the national competition.

Oklahoma was one of 40 states and the District of Columbia to apply for the federal grant funds, but it was not on the list of finalist states announced this morning by the U.S. Department of Education. Under the Race to the Top program, the feds will award more than $4.3 billion in grant funding to states that implement the best innovations in their public school systems. The grants are being distributed in a competitive two-round process.

"We knew the process was going to be very challenging and it would be difficult to make the first list of finalists, but we felt Oklahoma had a strong case to make in the area of school innovations," said Gov. Henry. "In the days to come, we will be reviewing the proposals of the finalist states with an eye on improving our application and making another bid for the second round of Race to the Top funding."

Those states that did not make the finalist list can reapply for the second round of Race to the Top funding. The deadline for application is June 1 of this year.

Gov. Henry said he will encourage Oklahomans who have been collaborating on the Race to the Top application to continue their work with the new June 1 deadline in mind. Kathy Taylor, the governor's chief of education strategy and innovation, and State Schools Superintendent Sandy Garrett have been helping coordinate the application process.

"I want to commend Kathy Taylor and Superintendent Garrett for all of their good work. I also want to thank the coalition of lawmakers, business leaders, education advocates and other stakeholders who have worked hard and contributed to this process. The fight isn't over yet and we will need everyone to stay engaged for Oklahoma to be successful in the second round of competition," said the governor.