Meet the Press talks with Arne Duncan

$4.3 Billion is what is being offered to states in a competition for education funding.  David Gregory asks Secretary Arne Duncan to explain how this unprecedented amount of money will ultimately achieve higher education standards for everyone in his interview which was broadcast on MSNBC on Sunday, November 15, 2009.  The key behind the Race to the Top program seems to be that states are only awarded the money once they prove that they are serious about reform.  The money will be distributed among those states that can demonstrate drastic, bold reforms.  Competition is expected to be stiff. 

Gregory goes one step further by asking if a Democratic President, who relies on the support of the teacher’s unions, is really going to insist on enforcing accountability measures.   The answer is simple.  Student achievement is the purpose of education. “We need to start to focus on outcomes, not inputs…We are only going to invest in those places that are doing the right thing by children.”