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Abstract

The Race to the Top fund (RTT) is intended to be a major federal investment in state and local education capacity and systemic education reforms aligned with federal policy priorities. In coming years, questions will be asked about the extent to which investments made through the RTT grant program improve educational productivity and effectiveness. This article establishes a baseline profile for how states and localities intend to invest federal RTT funds. The authors’ initial look at states’ RTT budgets provides an early indication of the amounts and types of investments in public education that are likely to result from the RTT program as well as raises critical questions for consideration in future evaluations of the RTT grant program.

Keywords

Race to the Top program federal grant making education policy

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