After waiting to sign on to Illinois’ application for federal Race to the Top funding until after the state lost out in round one, in part due to inadequate local district and teacher union support, the Springfield Education Association says it’s disappointed the state once again didn’t make the grade.
William Phillips, a school finance consultant and an educational leadership professor at the University of Illinois Springfield, says that wariness of too much federal control echoed across the state. “The reason most districts weren’t on board … number one, there are so many strings attached to federal money and no promise to actually get the money,” Phillips says.
Phillips' comments were featured in a September 2, 2010, article in the Illinois Times.
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