The U.S. Department of Education has released the detailed application for states that are eligible for funding in round two of the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.
Five states that scored well in round one, but not high enough to win any of the earlier grants, will be vying for $133 million in new money aimed at improving early-childhood education. They are Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Phase two is not a competition like the first go-round, when 37 states were jockeying to win $500 million in grants.
The five states will, for the most part, submit the same proposals from the first phase. They can make adjustments, if necessary, to reflect changes they’ve made to their early-childhood systems since that time.