ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue issued the following statement today regarding the state’s Race to the Top application - a $4 billion federal education grant competition.

Delaware and Tennessee, the only winners in the first round, will receive a total of almost $600 million to implement their education reforms. That leaves $3.4 billion on the table for the second round, which begins in June, with winners announced in the fall.

“We were hoping to be among the Final Four in the Race to the Top competition, but unfortunately this time only two winners were chosen. I spoke with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan this morning and he complimented Georgia on our strong application and commitment to education reform. I promised him Georgia will reapply in June and we will be tough to beat in the second round of awards that will be announced this fall. The Department will provide us valuable feedback on our application, and I am confident that we are a top seed heading into round two. I want to especially thank the 23 systems that have joined with Georgia for this competition, and we look forward to celebrating with them later this year.”