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Duncan Pressed to Set High Bar on 'Race to Top'

The U.S. Department of Education should set a high standard for deciding which states get $4.35 billion in discretionary Race to the Top funding under the economic-stimulus package, a key lawmaker told Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today.

In Mr. Duncan’s first appearance as secretary before the House Education and Labor Committee , the committee’s chairman, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said it would be better to give fewer states access to the money than to allocate it to those that don’t have comprehensive plans for improving education.

“When you put $5 billion on the table in Washington, D.C., there’s no shortage of people who will have an interest in that agenda, no matter what it is,” Mr. Miller said. In addition to the Race to the Top fund for states, Mr. Duncan also has control over a separate $650 million pot of funding for innovation grants to school...