Some rural states not seeking new U.S. education funds, saying rules are skewed for urban schools

Some rural states are seeking money in the first round of Race to the Top, the U.S. Department of Education's new program to encourage innovation and progress in schools, because they feel the regulations cater to urban areas, Alyson Klein of Education Week reports. For instance, Vermont chose not to apply because it would be penalized for not having charter schools, even though it felt it had innovative public schools. North Dakota will also be passing on the first round, but plans to tailor a unique plan for the second round due to the state's "rural nature."

"Most of the federal grants are organized around concentrations of poverty; we don't have really have concentrations," Rae Ann Knopf, Vermont's deputy commissioner of education for transformation and innovation, told Klein. Knopf, who previously worked in the Philadelphia schools, said she appreciates the need to help urban districts, but told Klein, "There are states in other rural areas that really would like to do some good work." (Read more)

You can see the list of states applying for Race to the Top funding here.