TPS to receive $10.8M of federal funds given to Ohio schools

COLUMBUS — Ohio succeeded Tuesday on its second try for $400 million in additional funds for its schools by qualifying for President Barack Obama's controversial Race to the Top contest.

Among local school districts that opted to participate, the award means an additional $10.8 million for Toledo Public Schools, $253,506 for Oregon, $179,354 for Maumee, and $100,000 for Perrysburg.

Some schools had opted not to participate, determining that the long-term costs of required reforms would outweigh shorter-term benefits of the additional funding.

Thirty-five states and Washington D.C. had applied for funding this time around, and Ohio was one of 19 that made the cut as finalists last month. Some states that had participated in the first round opted not to participate the second time.

After awarding just two states' applications to Delaware and Tennessee in the first round of funding announced earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education approved multiple state applications this time around.

Race to the Top is a $4.35 billion program that dangles a carrot before states and other school districts of funding on top of previously approved federal subsidies and stimulus dollars in exchange for enactment of certain reforms.

Gov. Ted Strickland had voiced confidence that education reforms that lawmakers approved as part of its current two-year, $50 billion budget would make the state's first application successful. But the state was ultimately hurt by the lower percentage of local school districts that had signed onto the changes.

This time around, the state boosted its school district participation to 538 school districts and charter schools teaching about 60 percent, or 1 million, of Ohio's school children.

"Ohio has shown its commitment to encouraging innovation by passing successful economic development initiatives like Ohio Third Frontier, and this award builds on our job creation strategy by helping prepare the next generation of Ohio entrepreneurs and innovators," Mr. Strickland said Wednesday.

The $400 million comes at a time when the state is facing a potential revenue shortfall of $8 billion in the next two-year budget, raising questions of whether the state would be able to afford to maintain funding for K-12 schools that is already inflated because of federal stimulus funding.

Contact Jim Provance at:

jprovance@theblade.com

or 614-221-0496.