September 17, 2012
School District, Charter School, and Regional Leaders,
Some of you have asked about how the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will support you
in preparing your applications for the US Department of Education’s (USED) Race to the Top
(RttT) District (-D) competition. Several of you have requested information and advice, which we
are always happy to provide. Others have simply asked how DPI will respond to the USED RttT-D
requirement that each applicant “must provide its State at least 10 business days to comment on the
LEA’s application” prior to submission to USED. This communication addresses that request.
Consistent with our guiding principle of ensuring equity of opportunity for all students in NC, DPI
has developed a process to help all RttT-D applicants meet their requirements, while not placing
any of you at a disadvantage relative to other NC applicants as a result of the State review. We
want you all to be successful, but we believe that the State should not have a role in determining
who among you succeeds in this USED-administered competition. DPI, therefore, will review and
comment on each submitted application, with our review and comment focusing solely on whether
your application aligns with the State’s READY remodeling agenda and state-level RttT grants
awarded to date.
The DPI process for review and comment will consist of the following steps:
1. Each RttT-D applicant must submit electronically a cover letter from the principal
applicant(s) indicating the date by which you are requesting State comments (must be at
least 10 business days after the submission to DPI) and any format in which comments are
required by USED. In addition, you must submit the full application and an executive
summary of the application that explains clearly and succinctly (in no more than two pages):
a. The aspirational goals and measureable objectives of your proposal
b. The primary activities through which you plan to achieve the goals and objectives
c. How your proposal clearly aligns with the State’s READY remodeling agenda and
existing NC RttT grant implementations
2) DPI will review each applicant’s submission and respond by the specified time with official
comments addressing only whether the proposal aligns clearly with the State’s READY
remodeling agenda and state-level RttT grants. The official DPI comment letter will explain
to USED the approach that we are taking to the review to ensure clarity regarding the nature
of the comments.
We are pleased that so many of you are taking the ambitious step to apply for RttT-D funding. Our
goal is that our review process will fairly and equitably maximize your opportunity for success.
We look forward to receiving your applications. As always, if you have any questions, please feel
free to contact us at racetothetop@dpi.nc.gov.
Sincerely,
Adam Levinson
Director, NC Race to the Top Program