A columnist in FL takes issue with the state not winning in the first round of RTTT:

In fact, Florida gave Race to the Top credibility. We proved reform worked. Since 1999, Florida has become a national leader in learning gains made by students and in closing the achievement gap between white and minority kids.

Yet inexplicably, Florida got left out when the first round of grant money was awarded. The winners were Tennessee and Delaware.

The difference is that they had support from the teacher unions and we did not. The unions here actually opposed the state's grant application. That our cash-strapped schools lost out on $1 billion is a great triumph for them.

…In other words, what Florida is doing is working. What Florida has accomplished strikes at the heart of what Obama want to accomplish nationwide.

But the unions don't approve, so no money for you.

…I'll be brief with Tennessee. It remains mired below the national average in almost every category.

Yet Duncan proclaims that Tennessee is a state that "will blaze the path for the future of education reform.''

Good Lord, let's hope not.

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