CONTENTS

July 30, 2009

Every Thursday, REL-NEI highlights state-based resources, press releases, and news around the Northeast and Islands Region related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). For a listing of REL Issues & Answers Reports categorized under ARRA topics and domains, click here.

Race to the Top Begins!

On July 24th, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, President Obama and others announced the release of the draft RFP for the “Race to the Top Fund.” The ARRA website has the most information, including:

Remarks by Secretary Duncan here
Race to the Top Fund draft RFP, fact sheets here
Teacher Incentive Fund here
State Longitudinal Data Systems RFP here

“[T]wo criteria would be absolute requirements: States must have been approved by the Education Department for stabilization funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (most already have been), and states must not have any laws in place barring the use of student-achievement data for evaluating teachers and principals,” writes Michele McNeil in an Education Week article.

The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, in collaboration with Southwest Comprehensive Center, the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center, the Great Lakes West Comprehensive Center, and the Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center has developed a new online interactive mapping tool: “Using ARRA Funds to Improve Teacher Effectiveness and Equitable Distribution.” Modeled on a subway map, the tool is designed to guide conversations between regional comprehensive center and state education agency staff on the strategic use of ARRA funds.

Last week, the Connecticut State Department of Education posted the form for school districts to apply for the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds.

On July 27th, Secretary Duncan announced that more than $52 million was available for Vermont under the ARRA this year (and $77,150,071 to allocate to school districts over fiscal years 2010 and 2011). The funding was made available per Vermont's successful completion of Part 1 of the State Stabilization Application. To date, Vermont has received nearly $46 million in education stimulus funds—representing a combination of funding for Title I, IDEA, Vocational Rehabilitation Grants, Independent Living Grants and Government Services funds. On April 1st, Vermont received nearly $13 million in Title I funding and more than $14 million in IDEA funding. This represents 50 percent of the Title I and IDEA funding Vermont is eligible for in total. View Vermont’s ARRA allocation estimates in PDF or Excel.

For more information, visit these ARRA-related websites across the Northeast and Islands Region:

U.S. Department of Education

http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/index.html

State Recovery Sites

http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/state-local-tribal-and-territorial-resources

State Education Agency Recovery Sites

Connecticut: http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2703&Q=322296
Maine: http://www.maine.gov/education/recovery/index.html
Massachusetts: http://www.doe.mass.edu/arra/
New Hampshire: http://www.ed.state.nh.us/education/recovery/index.htm
New York: http://uspeny.nysed.gov/arra/
Rhode Island: http://www.ride.ri.gov/Finance/Funding/ARRA/
Vermont: http://education.vermont.gov/new/html/dept/recovery_act.html
Puerto Rico: http://www.buengobiernopr.com/arra/index.html
U.S. Virgin Islands: http://www.governordejongh.com/recovery/index.html

Education Week’s “Schools and the Stimulus”

http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/schools-stimulus/index.html