Back in October, New York City applied for a second year to the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top-District competition. Last year, the city came up short in its bid to get extra funding to personalize instruction and expand its Innovation Zone sector of schools.
Today, the Obama administration announced the five winners — and New York City was again not on the list. Houston, which will get nearly $30 million, is the only big-city district to receive funding through the competition, the latest in a series of contests meant to spur innovation in schools.
Last year, New York City officials said they were pleased that city had been rated a finalist in the federal competition. (The city lost points for not spelling out how it spends funds.) The city was not one of the 31 finalists this year.
The other four winning applications came from Clarksdale, Miss.; Springdale, Ark.; and consortiums of rural districts in South Carolina and Kentucky.
