Race to the Top

What is Race to the Top?

RTT is basically meant to be a healthy competition designed to inspire administrators teachers and students to do their very best. It was created under the Obama administration in 2009 and is fully devoted to the advancement of education. Below are stats from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/education/k-12/race-to-the-top

'''To date, President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative has dedicated over $4 billion to 19 states that have created robust plans that address the four key areas of K-12 education reform as described below. These states serve 22 million students and employ 1.5 million teachers in 42,000 schools, representing 45 percent of all K-12 students and 42 percent of all low-income students nationwide. The four key areas of reform include:''' The school with the most points is awarded the large sum of money. There're 3 winners, one school for each phase of the competition. They receive a grant to advance their technology and aid their students in learning.
 * Development of rigorous standards and better assessments
 * Adoption of better data systems to provide schools, teachers, and parents with information about student progress
 * Support for teachers and school leaders to become more effective
 * Increased emphasis and resources for the rigorous interventions needed to turn around the lowest-performing schools

Here are the results of the Massachusetts Race To The Top grantIt states that MA is awarded a grand prize of $ 250,000,000 to be put into their public schools. The coincidence is that in the year of 2011 Massachusetts was one of the wealthiest states. According to business insider.com it was in the top ten reporting healthy statistics such as having about a 10.9% poverty rate and having only 5% of their population living without health insurance.

"Massachusetts has vibrant education and health care industries, both of which contribute to the above-average incomes for its residents. The state has among the most well-distributed wealth in the country."

So my question is do the wealthier states have a leg up in these competitions? The wealthier school districts are far more likely to have advanced technology and test prep classes. Is RTT taking this into consideration when they select their winners?