New GAO Report Shows Serious Challenges Still Facing Race To The Top

States Face Serious Problems Ensuring Program’s Promises Are Realized

WASHINGTON, DC—A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, “Race To The Top: Education Could Better Support Grantees and Help Them Address Capacity Challenges,” details the serious problems still facing the 19 states and District of Columbia that have won Race to the Top grants. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) requested the report in her capacity as the senior Democrat on the subcommittee responsible for funding the Department of Education.

The report details challenges states and local school districts faced as they implemented the reforms required by the Race to the Top program. These problems range from recruiting, training and paying teachers and staff to ensuring gains can be properly measured to obtaining buy-in from outside organizations. Further exacerbating these problems is the June 2015 expiration of $43 million in technical assistance funding.

“When the Race to the Top Program was first created, there was a lot of excitement and interest from states seeking to improvement their education systems. As this report demonstrates, even those states that won grants are struggling to ensure gains can be realized over the long term. Lasting change can be achieved more equitably through formula grant programs. That is what this report confirms and that is what I hear from my school superintendents and administrators in Connecticut. That is the direction in which we should go.”

GAO makes three recommendations for the Department of Education in its report:
• Incorporating the support that Race to the Top grantees identified as useful into its technical assistance plan
• Targeting assistance to rural school districts, which reported facing greater challenges than urban and suburban districts
• Issuing guidance to help states and auditors with funding flexibility to help address issues states and districts will still be facing when Race to the Top funding ends in September


###