Who Knew That Race to the Top Would Cause Joblessness?

In cycling races such as the Tour de France, riders tragically have lost their lives particularly in mountainous stages in the Alps or Pyrenees. Fortunately, no one was killed in the making of Race to the Top applications. But one state school chief, New Jersey's Brett Schundler, has lost his job as a result of it.

Read the Newark Star-Ledger's story for more:

Gov. Chris Christie fired state education commissioner Bret Schundler this morning after Schundler refused to resign in the wake of the controversy over the state's loss of up to $400 million in federal school funding.

The state lost a competitive grant contest for education funding by 3 points. While the state lost points across a number of areas for substantive issues, a blunder on one 5-point question has caused an uproar in Trenton. The state lost 4.8 points by seemingly misreading the question, which asked for information from 2008 and 2009 budgets. The state provided information from 2011.

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What I Did on My Summer "Vacation"

It's been a busy one. Here's a (small, incomplete) peek inside the life of a tenure-track mama prof.

(1) Traveled on work trips to Seattle, San Diego, Boulder, Laguna Beach, Washington DC (twice), and Chicago -- and most of that was just in the month of June.

(2) Spent two weeks at Northwestern University, 10+ hours per day, learning the technical in's and out's of cluster randomized trials at a veritable "geek camp." Had a blast. Imported generous family members to babysit during the day and parented my 7-month-old daughter every evening, awaking 3-5 times every night to nurse.

(3) Wrote and submitted three paper proposals to the American Educational Research Association.

(4) Completed final edits on two articles forthcoming this fall.

(5) Watched as my 3-year-old son wore a suit and went down the aisle as ring-bearer in his nanny's wedding. Cried my eyes out.

(6) Wrote a proposal for nearly $700,000 in foundation support. Decision still pending (it's a nail-biter!).

(7) Reviewed 9 journal articles and 6 grant proposals.

(8) Celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary by coordinating and cooking a family dinner for 12.

(9) Prepared a brand-new 2-semester course on mixed-methods research.

(10) Smiled with joy as my daughter learned to love solid food, crawl, cruise, and begin to call me "mama."

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Foodie Finds

In an effort to spice up this blog a bit, we'll tap into the Optimists' foodie inclinations by periodically featuring some choice restaurants and food-related businesses.

For our inaugural offering, here are some places we've enjoyed in recent travels:

• August First Bakery & Cafe - one word: bacon scones! - Burlington, Vermont
  
• Clancey's Meats & Fish - an amazing butcher shop & more - Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Donrockwell.com - THE dining guide to the Nation's Capital - Washington, DC
• Pizzeria Orso - fine Neapolitan pizza and not-to-miss antipasti - Arlington, Virginia
  
• Quarterdeck Restaurant - hammer away at stellar Maryland crabs - Arlington, Virginia
• Sanford - impeccable food & service; one of the nation's best - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Race To The Top Phase Two Winners

UPDATED 11:28 a.m. CDT

The complete list of 10 winning applicants:

District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Maryland
Massachusetts
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Rhode Island

Here is the official U.S. Department of Education press release and the list of Phase Two scores:

Phase Two Winners:
1. MA - 471.0
2. NY - 464.8
3. HI - 462.4
4. FL - 452.4
5. RI - 451.2
6. DC - 450.0
7. MD - 450.0
8. GA - 446.4
9. NC - 441.6
10. OH - 440.8
------------
Finalists:
11. NJ - 437.8
12. AZ - 435.4
13. LA - 434.0
14. SC - 431.0
15. IL - 426.6
16. CA - 423.6
17. CO - 420.2
18. PA - 417.6
19. KY - 412.4

This was an especially competitive round. And, as you can see above, there was NOT a natural cut-off point in the scores between successful applicants and unsuccessful ones. That's got to make the loss sting all the more for states such as New Jersey, Arizona, Louisiana and South Carolina especially. Just three points separate a funded state (Ohio) and a non-funded state (New Jersey)!

I am most surprised by the inclusion of Hawaii among the winners, but I was impressed by the strength and comprehensiveness of the teaching/leadership portion of its application. It will be interesting to see a full analysis of its very high score -- third highest, trailing only Massachusetts and New York.

The biggest shock to me is the absence of Illinois in the winners' circle. I felt that it had put together one of the more compelling applications and had been ranked 5th overall in Phase One. South Carolina is another strong contender that missed out; it had the 6th highest ranked application in Phase One.

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Race To The Top: Start Spreading The News

Dorie Turner of the Associated Press is reporting via Twitter that New York is one of the winners of Race to the Top, Phase Two. If that is the case -- and heavily favored Florida also is shown the money -- then we are likely looking at fewer than 10 winners today. That is, unless states are funded at less than the maximums that they requested. Under such a "spreading the wealth" scenario, then there could be more winners.

I'm not going to make predictions -- I think the cut off is likely to be determined by a few points here and there. But I still like the chances of Florida, Illinois, Rhode Island, and South Carolina best.

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