Pennsylvania among Race to the top finalists

The U.S. Department of Education announced that 15 states and the District of Columbia, including Pennsylvania, will advance as finalists for Phase 1 of the Race to the Top competition.
Race to the Top is the Department's $4.35 billion effort to re-shape America's educational system to better engage and prepare students for success in a competitive 21st century economy and workplace, according to a DOE news release.
If Pennsylvania is selected as a winner, the state could receive $400 million, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Education news release. Each district had to decide whether to participate in the application process. Superintendents, school board presidents and teachers' unions had to sign the memorandum of understanding for the grant. In Washington and Greene counties, only Central Greene had all three signatures.
States competing for Race to the Top funds were asked to document past education reform successes, as well as outline plans to: extend reforms using college and career-ready standards and assessments; build a workforce of highly effective educators; create educational data
systems to support student achievement; and turn around their lowest-performing schools.
The finalists are:
* Colorado
* Delaware
* District of Columbia
* Florida
* Georgia
* Illinois
* Kentucky
* Louisiana
* Massachusetts
* New York
* North Carolina
* Ohio
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* South Carolina
* Tennessee