Mark my words, Colorado will win RTTT $ in round 2, even without much support from the unions, thanks to legislation passed with DFER's help:

Colorado may be in better shape to win a competitive Race to the Top education grant, even though it has lost the support of teachers unions and some school districts.

Many education experts believe Colorado became a front-runner when Gov. Bill Ritter signed landmark legislation on May 20 linking student academic growth to teacher evaluations and changing how teachers earn and keep nonprobationary status, also known as tenure.

"The national perspective is you guys are in first place," said Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. "If I were a bookie, my bets would be with Colorado."

Eleven other states have recently passed teacher-effectiveness evaluation laws similar to Colorado's Senate Bill 191, said Tim Daly, president of The New Teacher Project.

"Colorado is one of the leaders, if not the leader in the substance of its law," Daly said. "It's very strong on the framework of evaluation, very strong in helping teachers get better and holding them accountable; it does the mutual- consent piece, and it deals with layoffs."

Colorado finished 14th out of 16 finalists in the competition's first round — earning 409.6 points on a 500-point scale. In March, Delaware and Tennessee were named winners, taking home a total of $600 million.

In its first-round application, Colorado lost 33 points out of a possible 138 in the section that asks how the state plans to get effective teachers and principals into schools.

The state's new teacher-effectiveness law could give Colorado up to 20 additional points, said Van Schoales, director of Education Reform Now.

"That gets us within striking distance," he said. "Every point will matter. The proposal will have to be very good."

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