Yesterday was the deadline for states to get their applications in for the second round of the Race to the Top grant.

Here’s a  quick rundown of what’s going on:

• Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia applied in the second round of the Race to the Top competition. For details and a list of state applicants, see the U.S. Department of Education's press release.
• According to an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required), “at least 23 states have approved laws that better position them for a win.”  At least nine states have explicitly tied student achievement to teacher evaluations.
• Nine states dropped out between the first and second rounds – Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. None of these states were among the 16 finalists for the first round. We’d note that the reasons for withdrawing were all over the place – from Virginia’s fear of compromising its stricter standards (in favor of national "common" standards) to Oregon’s conclusion that it simply couldn’t win. Some rural states, like South Dakota, decided that Race to the Top wasn’t built for them.
• The second round of the competition is likely to yield 10 to 15 winners and use up the $3.4 billion in grant money that has been allotted for phase two. In the first round, there were only two winners – Tennessee, which received $500 million and Delaware which was awarded $100 million.

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