Race to the Top education grants available

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- States could begin Thursday applying for more than $4.3 billion in the U.S. Education Department's Race to the Top Fund that helps states reform their schools.

"The president said last week that Race to the Top will require states to take an all-hands-on-deck approach," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Thursday. "We will award grants to the states that have led the way in reform and will show the way for the rest of the country to follow."

The final application was released Thursday, and was based on comments 1,161 people made on a proposed application released in July.

Race to the Top grants will be awarded to states that have raised student performance in the past and have the capacity to speed up achievement gains with innovative reforms, the Education Department said in a news release.

The application requires states to document past success and outline plans to extend reforms by using college- and career-ready standards and assessments, building a workforce of effective educators, creating educational data systems to support student achievement, and turning around lowest-performing schools, the department said.