Morning Announcements: July 27, 2010

The Department of Education announced today that 19 states have been named finalists for more than $3 billion available in the second round of funding in the Race to the Top program. The 19 finalists are: Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

Due to the weak economy and strained school budgets, many states are forced to cut back their merit-based scholarship programs, according to Education Week.

On No Child Left Behind, the Connecticut Mirror asks, “Are the fixes worse than the flaws?”