Colorado First State To Recognize That ‘Race To The Top’ Is, Um, Actually A Race

Colorado

March 5, 2009

Or, what if you decided to host a party, but Colorado was the only state that showed up…

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter this week appointed Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien to serve as his hand-picked “Race To The Top” czar, to make sure the state is demonstrating its commitment to meaningful refom so it can qualify for boatloads of innovation funding for schools contained in the recently adopted stimulus festivus.

O’Brien, a member of the DFER-Colorado steering committee, is the perfect person for the job, and you’d have to say that Colorado is poised to be one of Education Sectetary Arne Duncan’s top reform-minded posterchildren at this point. (In my Stimulus tournament bracket I have Colorado going all the way to the Final Four.)

Ritter’s press release is after the jump. Look for DFER at the big Colorado Democratic Party Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Denver on Saturday night. And even though the whole idea of governors doing anything interesting with education is like, so 1990’s, it will be interesting to see if anyone else follows Ritter’s lead here.