The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that Florida is a winner of the federal Race to the Top Phase 2 competition. This funding will be dedicated to carrying out a broad range of strategies designed to improve the state’s lowest performing schools and increase the academic achievement of Florida’s students.

Duval County Public Schools is not yet sure how much money it will receive, but with the end of the 2010-11 school year bringing the end of stimulus funds from the federal government, our district will again face a budget shortfall.

“We are excited about the opportunity that this funding creates for Duval County Public Schools and appreciate the help of the Duval County School Board and Duval Teachers United for collaborating with us for the grant application. This funding will allow the district to continue some of the trend-setting key elements already in place at DCPS that are part of the grant, including end-of-course exams, an evaluation and compensation system based on student learning gains derived from a variety of assessments and the reconstitution of lower performing schools based on performance of teachers,” said Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals. “With a potential shortfall of nearly $125 million for next year, this funding will assist us with our efforts to ensure that we have as minimal an impact on the classroom as possible.”

Along with Phase 1 winners Delaware and Tennessee, 11 states and the District of Columbia have now been awarded money in the Obama Administration's education reform program that will directly impact 13.6 million students, and 980,000 teachers in 25,000 schools.

The 10 winning Phase 2 applications in alphabetical order are: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

Congratulations to Florida’s teachers and students for this next step in education reform.