Christie Administration Divvies Up Its Race to the Top Winnings

Now that New Jersey has finally won some federal Race to the Top money, how exactly does it plan to spend its long-sought check for $37,848,434 (more or less).

In the application approved by the federal government last month, the Christie administration spelled out how where every dollar would go, down to the fringe benefits for staff and the $1,000 pricetag per computer.

The grant was awarded in the third round of the competition, after the state lost two previous bids, including one on a technicality last summer that ultimately cost former education commissioner Bret Schundler his job. Only states that bid before could try again, and ultimately all nine won some money, although a lot less than awarded in previous rounds. They also could only apply the grant to programs they had proposed in previous applications. The final figures remain fluid, especially given that the funding is spread over five years. But the budget is illustrative of the costs that go into the kinds of reforms that the administration has long hoped to spur with the federal funds, albeit at a larger scale, things like teacher evaluation reform, model curricula, and charter school oversight. The largest chunk of the money -- approximately $19 million -- will go to the districts themselves. To qualify, they must currently receive federal Title I funds for low-income students and be willing to participate in the reforms.

The exact conditions to that have yet to be determined, but they would apply to training staff or building local capacity, said Andrew Smarick, the state's deputy education commissioner. The state also plans to build an Instructional Improvement System, an online platform providing lesson plans in line with the new Common Core Standards, as well as spot assessments to see if students understand the material.

Pricetag: $6.2 million, which covers everything from upfront consultant fees at $50,000 a pop to annual system operating costs of $924,000 (about $7 per child).

Some $3.88 million, according to the application, will go to staffing up the administration's ongoing teacher evaluation pilot. That includes hiring three implementation managers at $95,000 a year to help districts put the models in place. Some of the money will also go to launch a principal evaluation pilot.

Continue reading this story in NJ Spotlight.

NJ Spotlight is an online news service providing insight and information on issues critical to New Jersey.