U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan moved up an expected April 1st announcement of Race to the Top winners, and journalists scrambled to get the story. It appears the news that only Delaware and Tennessee received grants first appeared on the website of the Wall Street Journal.
The Washington Post quickly followed, with an initial story noting that the announcement was made via Twitter, where a stream of updates followed throughout the day.
Coverage is now likely to be focused on a mad scramble to get grants for the next round. As Duncan pointed out in a call with journalists, the U.S. Department of Education still has about $3.4 billion available for the second phase of the Race to the Top competition.
“We set a very high bar for the first phase,” Duncan said. “With $3.4 billion still available, we’re providing plenty of opportunity for all other states to develop plans and aggressively pursue reform.”
And for journalists to aggressively pursue what the states may need to do to get there.
— Liz Willen
