CALIFORNIA RACE TO THE TOP

You Are Invited to a Meeting with State Leaders about California’s Application for the Federal Race to the Top Funds!

November 2, 2009 1-4pm Fresno County Office of Education 1111 Van Ness Fresno, CA 93721

November 3, 2009 9am-12pm Los Angeles County Office of Education 9300 Imperial Highway Downey, CA 90242

November 4, 2009 9am-12pm San Mateo County Office of Education 101 Twin Dolphin Dr. Redwood City, CA 94065

As part of the larger American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the U.S.
Department of Education released draft guidance in July for a competitive grant
program—the Race to the Top (RTT) Fund—that will provide $4.35 billion to
selected states in order to create conditions for education reform, improve student
outcomes and graduation rates, close the achievement gap, and ensure student
preparation for college and career. California hopes to be one of these RTT states.

In preparation for California’s application for the RTT funds, leaders from the
Governor’s office, the State Board of Education, and the California Department of
Education will be engaging with stakeholders across the state to share information
and gather feedback.

These regional events, open to all interested parties, aim to share a general
overview of the requirements in the Race to the Top application as well as open up
discussions around the four key priority areas in the application: 1) standards and
assessments; 2) effective teachers and leaders; 3) data to drive instruction; and 4)
supports for struggling schools.

The event will kick off with a presentation by Kathryn Radtkey-Gaither,
Undersecretary of Education and Rick Miller, Deputy Superintendent for the P-16
Policy & Information Branch at the California Department of Education, providing a general overview of Race to the Top and will be followed by an opportunity for
participants to break out into small groups to have interactive discussions around the four priority areas of the application.

Presenters:
• Kathryn Radtkey-Gaither, Undersecretary of Education
• Rick Miller, Deputy Superintendent, P-16 Policy & Information Branch, California
Department of Education

Resources
For more information on Race to the Top:
- The U.S. Department Fact Sheet can be found here
http://www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/executive-summary.pdf
- California’s Overview of Race to the Top can be found here:
http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/Race_to_the_Top.pdf
- California’s Race to the Top Website:
http://www.caracetothetop.org

Interested in Attending?
If you are planning on attending the event, please register here: www.ccsesa.org,
follow links under “Hot Topics” or “Events.” A map to each facility listed above is
available on the site as well.

Please note that there is limited capacity for these events; if you are unable to
register due to maximum capacity, opportunities to weigh in on this topic will be
available through a webdialogue scheduled for November 9-10, 2009. Please visit
www.caracetothetop.org for more information. For questions regarding these events or the webdialogue, please contact Patty Deras, pderas@wested.org.