Delaware and Tennessee Win “Race To The Top”

ABC News' Mary Bruce Reports: After months of speculation and state infighting, the Obama administration has decided to award hundreds of millions in stimulus funding for education reform to just two states in the "Race To The Top": Delaware and Tennessee.

The final number may come as a surprise to many – the Education Department originally suggested that as few as 9 of the original 41 applicants could ultimately win. “All along we said we would set a very high bar for the first phase,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters this afternoon. 

By picking Delaware and Tennessee, the Obama administration seems to be placing a high value on union and stakeholder support. Experts believed Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana all had strong – if not stronger – applications, but what they lacked was the nearly unanimous support from local unions and school districts obtained by Delaware and Tennessee.

“Stakeholder support was the deciding factor here,” said Andrew Smarick, a fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. “Going forward, if a state wants to win it has to do what the union wants.” Delaware’s application had support from all its unions, while Tennessee’s bid had 93 percent union approval.

But Duncan said that local support was just one of many factors considered in the applications. “This is a 500-point competition … We looked for the strongest applications overall. Buy-in was a piece of the application. It was by no means the determining factor,” Duncan said.

“What was very impressive about both Delaware and Tennessee wasn’t just the adult buy-in, but that they were touching 100 percent of the students in their states. That was very, very significant to us,” he said.

Duncan also stressed that both states have written new laws to support their policies and have demonstrated a commitment to turning their proposals into reality.

Teachers unions have praised the administration’s approach. “The Education Department indicates that both states sought and listened to input from local school districts and teachers through their unions. This collaborative approach is essential to the success of the programs these federal funds will support – without teacher buy-in, reforms have little chance of taking root for long-term success,” American Federation of Teachers’ President Randi Weingarten said in a statement.

States that didn't win this time around are being encouraged to reapply for the second round of the competition on June 1. Experts like Smarick, however, worry that the perceived emphasis on union support in the first round may weaken future applications.

“This could have huge implications immediately in the states, because unions and other stakeholders can start to drive the ship now,” Smarick said.

As for funding, the two winners will receive amounts close to their initial requests. Delaware will receive roughly $100 million and Tennessee $500 million. The budgets will be finalized after discussions between the states and the Department, and the money will be distributed over time.

Roughly $3.4 billion in stimulus funding is available for the second round of the competition, although the Department is not required to reward the full amount.

Applicants are judged by independent panels of peer-reviewers on their past reform successes, as well as their plans to embrace common academic standards, improve teacher quality, create educational data systems, and turn around their lowest-performing schools.