Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL-13), a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee, today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Education announced that Illinois would not be among the nine states chosen to receive federal education funding during the second round of the Administration’s Race to the Top (RTTP) grant awards:

            “I’m very disappointed that Illinois’ application for education funding was rejected by the Administration.  In the end, the Department of Education review board raised concerns about the lack of participation among many Illinois union representatives, schools, and districts and how that would impact the overall effectiveness of the state plan.  While our current leaders in Springfield aren’t known for consensus-building, these problems ultimately are the result of a federal program flawed from the start.  Race to the Top was inserted in the stimulus bill with no Congressional oversight and implemented by the Administration without input from a local perspective or specific guidelines.  Its vague and one-sided nature left educators and school administrators across Illinois highly skeptical of committing to a course without knowing what the final impact would be on students.  And without that sign-off, the Administration’s scoring standard dropped Illinois from fifth in the first round of competition to fifteenth in the second round.  That means our state will receive no funding.  Now Illinois taxpayers are once again funding a flawed federal program that benefits other states.  That’s not right.

            “The Administration has made it clear that it sees Race to the Top as a blueprint for its broader agenda for reauthorizing the nation’s K through 12 education laws.  I hope that, moving forward, Congress takes the steps necessary amend and improve Race to the Top – preserving reforms like those that emphasize tracking individual student growth, but avoiding counterproductive measures that would encourage teaching-to-the-test, tie pay to faulty performance assessments, curtail local control of education, or unfairly distribute federal dollars.”

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