PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island has drawn only $1.2 million of its $75 million Race to the Top money one year after the grant was announced, but the state Department of Education says it is on track to spend the entire four-year grant.
A Government Accountability Office report revealed that of the 10 states awarded Race to the Top money – a federal program designed to spur reforms in state and local district K-12 education – in the grant’s second round, only four have drawn more than 10 percent of their grant money.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
As of June 3, when the report was released, Rhode Island had drawn $1,009,411, only 4 percent of the $24,812,514 estimated in its Year 1 budget.
Four states — New York, Maryland, Hawaii and Georgia — had drawn a smaller percentage of their Year 1 budgets by June 3, according to the report.
While the second round of Race to the Top announced awards for Rhode Island and nine other states Aug. 24, 2010, the first months of the grant’s first year were spent developing a spending plan for the federal government to approve, said Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the R.I. Department of Education.
The approval finally arrived April 8, allowing the state to begin spending its $75 million.
“The first stage was really laying all the groundwork,” he said. “It took a little longer to get everything approved than we thought it would.”
The state has focused its Race to the Top spending on two programs in its first year: training educators on both the new common core standards and the new evaluation system. Trainings will take place this summer and throughout the year.
The state has spent around 1/75 of the total grant so far, he said. Rhode Island does not have its entire $75 million award on hand — rather, the state draws money from its grant as it spends it.
The state altered somewhat from its original Race to the Top application when submitting its spending plan for approval last November, mostly by adjusting its spending schedule and redirecting funds toward virtual education. The education department does not expect to change its plan further, Krieger said.
