Poor rural schools in Tenn. to receive more Race to Top money than suburban counterparts

In March Tennessee was named one of two winners of the U.S. Department of Education's "Race to the Top" competition, and now it appears that a large portion of its $500 million award will go to the poorest schools. Half of the award will go to local school districts, and the amount each district gets will "be tied to poverty measures, meaning that urban and poor rural districts will get many times more money per pupil from the program than their suburban counterparts," Chas Sisk of The Tennessean reports. About 40 percent of the $250 million allocated to school districts will go to Metro Nashville and Memphis.

Districts have until next month to submit formal proposals for how to spend their allocation of the award, and Tennessee Department of Education says it plans to give them wide latitude to develop unique plans, Sisk reports. Most of the proposals are expected to center on professional development projects for teachers. Julie McCargar, the department's executive director of federal programs, told Sisk how far the training dollars will go varies by district, and that large districts may be able to hire coaches and mentors who can work with teachers. (Read more)