Complete Coverage

State-Level Wrangling Persists on 'Race to Top'

Legislators, union leaders, and school oversight organizations continued to clamor this week for their say on how—or whether—states should prepare to align themselves with federal guidelines covering the competition for $4 billion in Race to the Top Fund economic-stimulus money.

Teachers’ unions in Florida and Minnesota have come out in recent days against current plans to revamp their states’ education laws, taking particular issue with merit-pay programs. California and Michigan legislatures have been locked in contentious deliberations for weeks over potential policy changes.

And while the New York Board of Regents has come out with its own suggested changes to state education policy to help meet federal guidelines, the Louisiana Board of Education early this week opposed seeking Race...