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Forty states and the District of Columbia applied for the first round of $4 billion in the Race to the Top Fund competition, which pits states against each other for desperately needed money, bragging rights, and leverage to implement controversial education reforms such as merit pay for teachers.

The 10 states that did not apply by the first round鈥檚 Jan. 19 deadline were: Alaska, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. Those states that did not apply, and any losing states from the first round, will be able to compete in the second round of competition, which is set for June.

鈥淭his exceeded our expectations,鈥� U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who has made Race to the Top the most high-profile piece of his education reform agenda, said in a statement. 鈥淲e received word from 40 states that they intended to apply, and thought there might be some drop-off. There wasn鈥檛.鈥�

Of the 10 states that did not apply in the first round, most did not come as a surprise. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, leveled sharp criticism at the Obama administration earlier this month, declaring his state would not compete for fear of a 鈥渇ederal takeover鈥� of schools.

Rural states such as Montana and North Dakota had expressed reluctance because of the competition鈥檚 focus on education strategies they say may not work in their states, such as charter schools.

And Maryland state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick wants to seek legislative changes鈥攖o make it more difficult for teachers to get tenure and to link teacher evaluations to student test scores鈥攂efore applying for the federal grants.

The current Race to the Top program is funded by $4 billion in one-time money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic-stimulus package passed by Congress last year. Today鈥檚 deadline comes as President Barack Obama announced his plans to seek $1.35 billion from Congress in his fiscal 2011 budget request to extend Race to the Top for another year and open it up to school districts. (鈥淥bama to Seek $1.35 Billion Race to Top Expansion,鈥� January 19, 2010.)

Grueling Process

Applying for Race to the Top is no small feat. Many states rushed in recent months to change their laws to better position themselves to win, such as by expanding their charter school sector, or linking student test scores to teacher evaluations. And the voluminous applications amounted to hundreds of pages; Florida鈥檚 , for example, has 606 pages in the alone.

Now, a group of 60 peer reviewers and alternates, who have been vetted and selected by the department, will evaluate the applications, scoring them on a . States will be graded against 30 different criteria, with some of the largest chunks of points awarded for states that demonstrate significant buy-in from local school districts and devise plans to evaluate teachers and principals based on student performance.

鈥淲e鈥檝e never said there鈥檚 one question that鈥檚 a make or break,鈥� Mr. Duncan said in a briefing call Tuesday. 鈥淭his is a very, very difficult competition. This is not a race to the middle. This is a race to the top, and we meant what we said.鈥�

First-round finalists will be asked to send a team to Washington, D.C., in March to make an in-person pitch to the reviewers鈥攁 high-stakes interview that will be factored into the point total before the winners are announced in April.

Mr. Duncan said the number of winners in the first round will be determined by the quality of the proposals, and that there is no predetermined cut-off score, or set number of winners. States with the highest scores will win.

When the winners are announced, the Education Department will post all of the applications online鈥攆rom both the winners and losers鈥攁nd include the points awarded and feedback from the reviewers. The second-round winners will be announced in September.

Mr. Duncan has made clear that he is interested only in bold, innovative reform pitches鈥攁nd not just applications that further the status quo.

In response to a reporter鈥檚 question on Jan. 19, he spoke directly to the situation in New York state, where Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, is building a $750 million Race to the Top award into his fiscal 2011 budget proposal.

鈥淚 love the confidence鈥攆or anyone to assume they鈥檙e getting this, that鈥檚 a bit of a leap of faith,鈥� Mr. Duncan said. 鈥淚f this money is simply plugging budget holes that鈥檚 not something we are going to be interested in.鈥�

Confident Pitches

While the U.S. Department of Education is not yet making the applications available for public review, individual states are already doing so. It鈥檚 clear both from their pitches and the dollar amounts they鈥檙e seeking that applicants are confident.

Florida鈥檚 application reads: 鈥淔lorida is better poised than any other state to implement RTTT successfully because Florida has learned from prior reforms and has built a valuable knowledge base of what is necessary to implement a successful comprehensive RTTT agenda.鈥�

That Race to the Top agenda would cost $1.14 billion, Florida estimates. That鈥檚 far higher than the Education Department鈥檚 award range for a state of Florida鈥檚 size. The biggest states would get grants of up to $700 million, according to those nonbinding estimates.

The nation鈥檚 capital is also not shy about bragging. Its 184-page proclaims: 鈥淭he District of Columbia boasts the nation鈥檚 most exciting, dynamic reform agenda.鈥� It鈥檚 asking for $112 million. (The Education Department鈥檚 range for the District and the smallest states is $20 million to $75 million.)

In Louisiana, creating effective teachers and school leaders is the overarching theme in the state鈥檚 Race to the Top application, said Paul G. Pastorek, the state鈥檚 schools chief.

鈥淓verything in our application, across the four assurance areas, revolves around that,鈥� Mr. Pastorek said yesterday, referring to the education reform priorities outlined in the stimulus law.

In Louisiana, one-third of the state鈥檚 districts and charter schools鈥攔epresenting about half of the state鈥檚 students鈥攕igned onto the state鈥檚 plan, he said. In agreeing to participate, districts had to commit to implementing the entirety of the plan.

鈥淲e had a pretty specific strategy of wanting people to make a rigorous analysis of whether they really wanted to be involved in this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t had to be all or nothing.鈥�

A key piece of the state鈥檚 Race to the Top plan is to overhaul teacher evaluations. That will involve tying 50 percent of a teacher鈥檚 annual review to growth in student achievement. Mr. Pastorek said the state must still work with school districts to figure out what other factors on which teacher evaluations should be based, but the goal would be for all districts participating in the Race to the Top initiatives to use a uniform system.