Oregon Public Broadcasting

The federal Race to the Top grant competition turned into a “race to the deadline” in Oregon, as dozens of districts signed up just in time for Tuesday’s deadline, for the possibility of winning a federal grant. Rob Manning has more.

A week ago, only about a dozen Oregon school districts had signed agreements with the state, to make big changes to schools, in exchange for up to $175 million of federal money.

But now, with the deadline basically closed, at least 110 school districts have signed up, according to state Department of Ed communications’ director, Jake Weigler.

Jake Weigler: “To have over 50 percent of districts across Oregon sign up shows, we think, a good commitment to the Race to the Top process, and making the changes that the federal government is looking towards.”

The federal Race to the Top program has asked states to outline tough steps to overhaul struggling schools and to connect teacher pay to student performance.

Oregon teachers unions have only supported about one-third of the school districts that have signed up.

Some union leaders have said they didn’t have time to fully vet Race to the Top’s possible implications with their members.