A blog called Schools Matter highlights a tidbit from a recent Education Week story that might give Colorado another reason to fret about its Race to the Top chances:
The Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has hand-picked states to receive up to $250,000 each to hire consultants to help them fill out their applications. Those states are Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas.
They represent either states in which Gates is already invested-or which the foundation thinks are on the right path to school improvement.
Chris Williams, a foundation spokesman, said he would not comment on any Race to the Top work the foundation is doing in states.
But state officials have wasted no time in making use of the assistance. Kentucky, for one, is hiring the Bridgespan Group-a national nonprofit- and philanthropic-consulting firm-with its money from the Gates Foundation.
“That group will be a key component in our application, helping us structure it and get the appropriate information entered,” said Lisa Gross, a Kentucky education department spokeswoman. “We will be working very closely, in some cases on a daily basis, with … Bridgespan.”
Does this suggest that Gates doesn’t think highly of Colorado’s efforts? More important, do the states receiving this nice chunk of change for “technical assistance” preparing their applications now have a significant advantage over states like Colorado, which have been left out?
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[...] for Race to the Top money. The moneyed and influential Gates Foundation is bothering to help 15 other states, but not Colorado, in filling out RTTT applications. Some say the process itself is getting too [...]