Joint statement on Race to the Top semi-finalists

For Immediate Release: July 27, 2010

OLYMPIA - Gov. Chris Gregoire, Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, and State Board of Education Chair Jeff Vincent issued the following statement today regarding the announcement by the US Department of Education selecting 19 semifinalists in the Race to the Top grant application:

�Today�s news does not mean the end of meaningful education reform in Washington. When we put together our application, we were committed, win or lose, to making sure we would carry out education reform our way, the Washington way. Race to the Top enabled us to spend time creating a road map to our education reform efforts through a draft plan that reflected the work of many diverse groups as well as the good work started by our most recent education laws. We will finalize the plan this fall and use it to prioritize and allocate resources as we move ahead with our state education reform efforts. It is a plan that reflects our views and values, is unique to our state and one that we know will work. In an increasingly competitive economy, we must ensure every child gets access to a quality education.

�We would like to thank and acknowledge the huge effort by everyone who helped put the application together. The staff in the governor�s office, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education, our community partners and the hundreds of local districts, principals, superintendents, school boards and teachers unions who signed on did a tremendous amount of work to help get us this far.

�We are disappointed that the Department of Education did not select Washington to move forward in their competition for these federal education dollars. We knew the process would be extremely competitive. During the first round, only two states were awarded the grant. This round, Washington was competing against 35 other states and the District of Columbia.�

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