Race to the Top Fund Phase 3, 56183-56188 [2011-23123]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 176 (Monday, September 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56183-56188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23123]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

RIN 1894-AA01
[Docket ID ED-2011-OS-0008]


Race to the Top Fund Phase 3

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed requirements.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education (Secretary) proposes requirements 
for Phase 3 of the Race to the Top program. In this phase the 
Department would make awards to States that were finalists but did not 
receive funding under the Race to the Top Fund Phase 2 competition held 
in fiscal year (FY) 2010. We take this action to specify the 
information and assurances that applicants must provide in order to 
receive funding under the Race to the Top Fund Phase 3 award process.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before October 12, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments by fax or by e-mail. Please submit your comments only 
one time in order to ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies. In 
addition, please include the Docket ID and the term ``Race to the Top 
Fund Phase 3 Awards'' at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov to submit your comments electronically. Information 
on using Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency 
documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on 
the site under ``How To Use This Site.''
     Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery. If you 
mail or deliver your comments about these proposed requirements, 
address them to the Implementation and Support Unit (Attention: Race to 
the Top Fund Phase 3 Comments), U.S. Department of Education, 400 
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-6200.
     Privacy Note: The Department's policy for comments 
received from members of the public (including those comments submitted 
by mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery) is to make these 
submissions available for public viewing in their entirety on the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, 
commenters should be careful to include in their comments only 
information that they wish to make publicly available on the Internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meredith Farace, Implementation and 
Support Unit, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-6200. 
Telephone: (202) 401-8368 or by e-mail: phase3comments@ed.gov.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding 
this notice. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in 
developing the notice of final requirements, we urge you to identify 
clearly the specific proposed requirement that each comment addresses.
    We invite you also to assist us in complying with the specific 
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563 and 
their overall direction to Federal agencies to reduce regulatory burden 
where possible. Please let us know of any further ways we could reduce 
potential costs or increase potential benefits while preserving the 
effective and efficient administration of this program.
    During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this notice by accessing Regulations.gov. You may also 
inspect the public comments in person in room 7E208, 400 Maryland 
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 
p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week except 
Federal holidays.
    Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities in Reviewing the 
Rulemaking Record: On request we will provide an appropriate 
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who 
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the 
public rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an 
appointment for this type of accommodation or auxiliary aid, please 
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Purpose of Program: The Race to the Top program, the largest 
competitive education grant program in U.S. history, is designed to 
provide incentives to States to implement system-changing reforms that 
result in improved student achievement, narrowed achievement

[[Page 56184]]

gaps, and increased high school graduation and college enrollment 
rates.
    Program Authority: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(ARRA), Division A, Section 14006, Public Law 111-5, as amended by 
section 310 of Division D, Title III of Public Law 111-117, the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, and section 1832(a)(2) of Public 
Law 112-10, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing 
Appropriations Act, 2011. (Note: In the ARRA, the Race to the Top 
program is referred to as State Incentive Grants.)
    Proposed Requirements:

Background

    On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the ARRA, 
historic legislation designed to stimulate the economy, support job 
creation, and invest in critical sectors, including education. The ARRA 
laid the foundation for education reform by supporting investments in 
innovative strategies that are most likely to lead to improved results 
for students, long-term gains in school and school system capacity, and 
increased productivity and effectiveness. In particular, the ARRA 
authorized and provided $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund, a 
competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States 
creating the conditions for education innovation and reform by 
implementing ambitious plans in four core areas: Enhancing standards 
and assessments, improving the collection and use of data, increasing 
teacher effectiveness and achieving equity in teacher distribution, and 
turning around struggling schools.
    In 2010, the Department awarded approximately $4 billion in Race to 
the Top State grant funds in two phases. On March 29, 2010, the 
Department announced the award of approximately $600 million to 
Delaware and Tennessee under the Race to the Top Phase 1 competition. 
On August 24, 2010, the Department announced the award of approximately 
$3.4 billion in Race to the Top funding to the winners of the Phase 2 
competition: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, 
Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode 
Island. In addition to these awards to States to implement 
comprehensive reform plans, the Department awarded approximately $330 
million on September 2, 2010, under a separate Race to the Top 
Assessment competition, to two groups of States to develop a new 
generation of assessments aligned with a common set of college- and 
career-ready standards.
    In announcing the winners of the Phase 2 competition, the Secretary 
noted that ``[we] had many more competitive applications than money to 
fund them in this round'' and expressed the hope that any Race to the 
Top funding included in the Department's FY 2011 appropriations would 
be available for Phase 3 Race to the Top awards. In particular, there 
were nine finalists in the Phase 2 competition held in the summer of 
2010 that did not receive funding despite submitting bold and ambitious 
plans for comprehensive reforms and innovations in their systems of 
elementary and secondary education. These nine finalists were Arizona, 
California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.
    On April 15, 2011, President Obama signed into law Public Law 112-
10, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations 
Act, 2011 (FY 2011 Appropriations Act), which made $698.6 million 
available for the Race to the Top Fund, authorized the Secretary to 
make awards on ``the basis of previously submitted applications,'' and 
amended the ARRA to permit the Secretary to make grants for improving 
early childhood care and learning under the program. On May 25, 2011, 
the Department announced that approximately $500 million of these funds 
would support the new Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge program 
and that approximately $200 million would be made available to some or 
all of the nine unfunded finalists from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 
2 competition. While $200 million is not sufficient to support full 
implementation of the plans submitted during the Phase 2 competition, 
the Department believes that making these funds available to the 
remaining nine finalists is the best way to create incentives for these 
States to carry out the bold reforms proposed in their applications. 
The Department may use any unused funds from Race to the Top Phase 3 to 
make awards in the Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge program. 
Conversely, the Department may use any unused funds from the Race to 
the Top--Early Learning Challenge program to make awards for Race to 
the Top Phase 3.
    In this notice, we propose specific requirements that would apply 
to Race to the Top Phase 3 awards. To receive a share of the 
approximately $200 million in Race to the Top Phase 3 funds, eligible 
applicants would need to meet these requirements.
    As with Race to the Top Phase 1 and Phase 2, it is the Department's 
intent to encourage and reward States that are creating and maintaining 
conditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant 
improvement in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in 
student achievement, closing achievement gaps, improving high school 
graduation rates, ensuring student preparation for success in college 
and careers; and implementing ambitious plans in the following four 
core education reform areas:
    (a) Adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments 
that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
    (b) Building data systems that measure student success and inform 
teachers and principals about how they can improve their practices;
    (c) Increasing teacher and principal effectiveness and achieving 
equity in the distribution of effective teachers and principals; and
    (d) Turning around our lowest achieving schools.
    Under the Race to the Top Phase 3 award process proposed in this 
notice, eligible applicants would be limited to Race to the Top Phase 2 
finalists that did not receive a Phase 2 award, and those eligible 
applicants could apply for a proportional share of these funds. Race to 
the Top Phase 3 funding is not at the level of funding that was 
available for the Race to the Top Phase 1 and Phase 2 competitions. 
Accordingly, we are proposing that eligible applicants (1) select from 
among the activities they proposed to implement in their Phase 2 
applications those activities that will have the greatest impact on 
advancing their overall statewide reform plans, (2) use Race to the Top 
Phase 3 funding to support those specific activities, and (3) ensure 
that such activities are consistent with the ARRA requirement to 
allocate 50 percent of Race to the Top funds to local educational 
agencies (LEAs).
    We are further proposing to require that an eligible applicant 
provide a set of assurances reaffirming its commitment to maintain, at 
a minimum, the conditions for reform that it established in its Phase 2 
application in each of the four core education reform areas. These 
assurances reflect the importance of the State's dedication to 
successfully implementing the comprehensive statewide reforms 
envisioned under the Race to the Top program.
    These proposed requirements also include a requirement that an 
applicant provide an assurance that the State is in compliance with the 
Education Jobs Fund maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirement in section 
101(10)(A) of Public Law 111-226. The MOE requirement under the 
Education Jobs Fund program is more stringent in some

[[Page 56185]]

respects than the MOE requirement under the State Fiscal Stabilization 
Fund (SFSF) program. Unlike the SFSF MOE requirement, which in some 
cases may allow a State to maintain overall levels of support for 
education while actually reducing funding for either elementary and 
secondary education or for public institutions of higher education 
(IHEs), a State can meet the Education Jobs Fund MOE requirement only 
by maintaining support for both elementary and secondary education and 
public IHEs. For this reason, we believe that the Education Jobs Fund 
MOE requirement is a better measure of whether a State is demonstrating 
the commitment to funding education needed to create the conditions for 
education innovation and reform consistent with the Race to the Top 
program.

Proposed Requirements

    The Secretary proposes the following requirements for Race to the 
Top awards. Except where otherwise indicated in this notice of proposed 
requirements, the applicable final requirements and definitions of key 
terms from the notice of final priorities, requirements, definitions, 
and selection criteria, published in the Federal Register on November 
18, 2009 (74 FR 59688) apply to the Race to the Top Phase 3 application 
process.

I. Proposed Award Process

    The Department proposes to make awards through a two-part process. 
Under the first part of this process, States that meet the eligibility 
requirements would submit an application that (1) meets the application 
requirements and (2) provides the application assurances.
    Under the second part of the Race to the Top Phase 3 application 
process, the Department would notify all eligible applicants that met 
the application requirements and provided the assurances required by 
the first part of the process, and would provide an estimate of the 
Race to the Top Phase 3 funds available to them based on the number of 
qualified applicants. Qualified applicants would then be required to 
submit, for review and approval by the Secretary, a detailed plan and 
budget describing the activities selected from the State's Phase 2 
application that would be implemented with Race to the Top Phase 3 
funding in accordance with the Budget Requirements in this notice.

II. Proposed Eligibility Requirements

    States that were finalists, but did not receive grant awards, in 
the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 competition are eligible to receive 
Race to the Top Phase 3 awards. Therefore, only the States of Arizona, 
California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and South Carolina are eligible to apply for Race to the 
Top Phase 3 awards.

III. Proposed Application Requirements

    A State must submit an application that includes the signatures of 
the Governor, the State's chief school officer, and the president of 
the State board of education, or their authorized representatives (if 
applicable).

IV. Proposed Application Assurances

    The Governor or authorized representative of the Governor of a 
State must provide the following assurances in the State's Race to the 
Top Phase 3 application:
    (a) The State is in compliance with the Education Jobs Fund 
maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirements in section 101(10)(A) of 
Public Law 111-226.
    (b) The State is in compliance with the State Fiscal Stabilization 
Fund Phase 2 requirements with respect to Indicator (b)(1) regarding 
the State's statewide longitudinal data system. (See notice of final 
requirements, definitions, and approval criteria for the State Fiscal 
Stabilization Fund Program published in the Federal Register on 
November 12, 2009 (74 FR 58436).)
    (c) At the time the State submits its application, there are no 
legal, statutory, or regulatory barriers at the State level to linking 
data on student achievement or student growth to teachers and 
principals for the purpose of teacher and principal evaluation.
    (d) The State will maintain its commitment to improving the quality 
of its assessments, evidenced by the State's participation in a 
consortium of States that--
    (i) Is working toward jointly developing and implementing common, 
high-quality assessments aligned with the consortium's common set of K-
12 standards; and
    (ii) Includes a significant number of States.
    (e) The State will maintain, at a minimum, the conditions for 
reform described in its Race to the Top Phase 2 application, 
including--
    (i) The State's adoption and implementation of a common set of 
college- and career-ready standards, as specified in section (B)(1)(ii) 
of the State's Race to the Top Phase 2 application;
    (ii) The State's statutory and regulatory framework related to 
improving teacher and school leader effectiveness and ensuring an 
equitable distribution of effective teachers and leaders, as described 
in section D of the State's Race to the Top Phase 2 application;
    (iii) The State's statutory and regulatory framework for 
implementing effective school and LEA turnaround measures, as described 
in section E of the State's Race to the Top Phase 2 application; and
    (iv) The State's statutory and regulatory framework for supporting 
the creation and expansion of high-performing charter schools and other 
innovative schools, as described in section (F)(2) of its Race to the 
Top Phase 2 application.
    (f) The State will maintain its commitment to comprehensive reforms 
and innovation designed to increase student achievement and to 
continued progress in the four reform areas specified in the ARRA, 
including the adoption and implementation of internationally 
benchmarked standards and assessments, improving the collection and use 
of data, increasing teacher effectiveness and equity in the 
distribution of effective teachers, and turning around the State's 
lowest achieving schools.
    (g) The State will select activities for funding that are 
consistent with the commitment to comprehensive reform and innovation 
that the State demonstrated in its Race to the Top Phase 2 application.
    (h) The State will comply with all of the accountability, 
transparency, and reporting requirements that apply to the Race to the 
Top program (See the notice of final priorities, requirements, 
definitions, and selection criteria for the Race to the Top Fund 
published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2009 (74 FR 59688)), 
with the exception of reporting requirements applicable solely to funds 
provided under the ARRA. (Note: The ARRA section 1512 reporting 
requirements do not apply to the funds we will award under the Race to 
the Top Phase 3 award process).
    (i) A grantee must comply with the requirements of any evaluation 
of the program, or of specific activities pursued as part of the 
program, conducted and supported by the Department.

V. Proposed Budget Requirements

    An eligible applicant must apply for a proportional share of the 
approximately $200 million available for Race to the Top Phase 3 awards 
based primarily on its share of the population of children ages 5 
through 17 across the nine States. The proposed estimated amounts for 
which each

[[Page 56186]]

eligible State could apply are shown in the following table. The 
amounts proposed in this table are based on the assumption that all 
eligible States would apply for a share of available funding; the 
amounts would increase if one or more eligible States do not apply or 
do not meet the application requirements.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         State                                Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado...............................................      $12,250,000
Louisiana..............................................       12,250,000
South Carolina.........................................       12,250,000
Kentucky...............................................       12,250,000
Arizona................................................       17,500,000
Illinois...............................................       28,000,000
Pennsylvania...........................................       28,000,000
New Jersey.............................................       28,000,000
California.............................................       49,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Once the Department notifies a qualified applicant of the final 
amount of funds it is eligible to receive for a Race to the Top Phase 3 
award, the applicant must submit a detailed plan and budget describing 
the activities it has selected from its Race to the Top Phase 2 
application that it proposes to implement with Race to the Top Phase 3 
funding. This detailed plan must include an explanation of why the 
applicant has selected these activities and why the applicant believes 
such activities will have the greatest impact on advancing its overall 
statewide reform plan. The plan also must include a description of the 
State's process for allocating at least 50 percent of Race to the Top 
Phase 3 funds to participating LEAs, as required by section 14006(c) of 
the ARRA. Subgrants to LEAs must be based on their relative shares of 
funding under Title I, Part A of the ESEA, and LEAs must use these 
funds in a manner that is consistent with the State's updated plan and 
the MOU or other binding agreement between the LEA and the State. A 
State may establish more specific requirements for LEA use of funds 
provided they are consistent with the ARRA and Race to the Top 
requirements. (See the notice of final priorities, requirements, 
definitions, and selection criteria for the Race to the Top Fund 
published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2009 (74 FR 59688))

Final Requirements

    We will announce the final requirements for the Race to the Top 
Phase 3 award process in a notice in the Federal Register. We will 
determine the final requirements after considering any comments 
submitted in response to this notice and other information available to 
the Department. This notice does not preclude the Department from 
proposing additional priorities, requirements, definitions, or 
selection criteria, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking 
requirements.

    Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in 
which we choose to use one or more of these requirements we invite 
applications through a notice in the Federal Register.

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

    Under Executive Order 12866, the Secretary must determine whether a 
regulatory action is ``significant'' and therefore subject to the 
requirements of the Executive order and subject to review by the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 
defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an action likely to 
result in a rule that may (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of 
$100 million or more, or adversely affect a sector of the economy, 
productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or 
safety, or State, local or Tribal governments or communities in a 
material way (also referred to as an ``economically significant'' 
rule); (2) create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially alter the 
budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, or local programs 
or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) raise novel 
legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's 
priorities, or the principles set forth in the Executive order.
    It has been determined that this regulatory action will have an 
annual effect on the economy of more than $100 million because the 
amount of government transfers through the Race to the Top Phase 3 
award process exceeds that amount. Therefore, this action is 
economically significant and subject to OMB review under section 
3(f)(1) of Executive Order 12866. Notwithstanding this determination, 
we have assessed the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative 
and qualitative--of this proposed regulatory action and have determined 
that the benefits justify the costs.
    The Department has also reviewed these proposed requirements 
pursuant to Executive Order 13563, published on January 21, 2011 (76 FR 
3821). Executive Order 13563 is supplemental to and explicitly 
reaffirms the principles, structures, and definitions governing 
regulatory review established in Executive Order 12866. To the extent 
permitted by law, agencies are required by Executive Order 13563 to: 
(1) Propose or adopt regulations only upon a reasoned determination 
that their benefits justify their costs (recognizing that some benefits 
and costs are difficult to quantify); (2) tailor their regulations to 
impose the least burden on society, consistent with obtaining 
regulatory objectives, taking into account, among other things, and to 
the extent practicable, the costs of cumulative regulations; (3) 
select, in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, those 
approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic, 
environmental, public health and safety, and other advantages; 
distributive impacts; and equity); (4) the extent feasible, specify 
performance objectives, rather than specifying the behavior or manner 
of compliance that regulated entities must adopt; and (5) identify and 
assess available alternatives to direct regulation, including providing 
economic incentives to encourage the desired behavior, such as user 
fees or marketable permits, or providing information upon which choices 
can be made by the public.
    We emphasize as well that Executive Order 13563 requires agencies 
``to use the best available techniques to quantify anticipated present 
and future benefits and costs as accurately as possible.'' In its 
February 2, 2011, memorandum (M-11-10) on Executive Order 13563, 
improving regulation and regulatory review, the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs has emphasized that such techniques may include 
``identifying changing future compliance costs that might result from 
technological innovation or anticipated behavioral changes.''
    We are issuing these proposed requirements only upon a reasoned 
determination that their benefits justify their costs and we selected, 
in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, those approaches 
that maximize net benefits. Based on the analysis below, the Department 
believes that these final regulations are consistent with the 
principles in Executive Order 13563.
    In this section we discuss the need for regulatory action, the 
costs and benefits, as well as regulatory alternatives we considered.

Need for Federal Regulatory Action

    These proposed requirements are needed to implement the Race to the 
Top Phase 3 award process in the manner that the Secretary believes 
will best enable the program to achieve its objectives of creating the 
conditions for effective reform and meaningful innovation in education 
while helping States that were finalists, but did not receive funding 
under the Race to the

[[Page 56187]]

Top Phase 2 competition, to implement selected elements of their 
comprehensive reform proposals submitted as part of their Race to the 
Top Phase 2 applications.

Potential Costs and Benefits

    Under Executive Order 12866, we have assessed the potential costs 
and benefits of this regulatory action and have determined that these 
proposed requirements would not impose significant additional costs to 
State applicants or the Federal Government. Most of the proposed 
requirements involve re-affirming the commitments and plans already 
completed as part of the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 competition or 
other Federal education programs. As an example of a requirement that 
would result in minimal additional burden and cost, we have proposed 
that States applying for Race to the Top Phase 3 funding provide an 
assurance that they are meeting the MOE requirements of the Education 
Jobs Fund program. Similarly, other proposed requirements, in 
particular those related to maintaining conditions for reform required 
under the Race to the Top Phase 2 competition, would require 
continuation of existing commitments and investments rather than the 
imposition of additional burdens and costs. For example, States would 
be required to continue implementation of common K-12 academic content 
standards. The Department believes States would incur minimal costs in 
developing plans and budgets for implementing selected activities from 
their Race to the Top Phase 2 proposals, because in most cases such 
planning will entail revisions to existing plans and budgets already 
developed as part of the Race to the Top Phase 2 application process, 
and not the development and implementation of entirely new plans and 
budgets. In all such cases, the Department believes that the benefits 
resulting from the proposed requirements would exceed their costs.

Regulatory Alternatives Considered

    An alternative to promulgation of the types of requirements 
proposed in this notice would be for the Secretary to use FY 2011 Race 
to the Top funds to make awards to the one or two highest scoring 
unfunded applications from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 
competition. However, the Department believes that the scores of the 
unfunded finalists from the Race to the Top Phase 2 competition are too 
closely grouped to support awarding all FY 2011 Race to the Top funds 
to the one or two States with the highest scores. Furthermore, the 
Department believes that the approximately $200 million available from 
the FY 2011 Appropriations Act for the Race to the Top program would 
not support full implementation of the comprehensive reform plans 
submitted by unfunded finalists from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 
competition. The Department also believes that making available 
meaningful amounts of FY 2011 Race to the Top funding to all of the 
unfunded finalists from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 competition 
offers the greatest promise for sustaining the nationwide reform 
momentum created by the Race to the Top Phase 1 and Phase 2 
competitions.
    Finally, the Department believes that simply funding the one or two 
highest scoring applicants that did not win an award in the 2010 Race 
to the Top Phase 2 competition would result in a missed opportunity to 
reward the efforts of all nine unfunded finalists from that competition 
and to enable them to make meaningful progress on key elements of their 
comprehensive statewide reform plans.
    To assist the Department in complying with the requirements of 
Executive Order 12866, the Secretary invites comments on whether there 
may be further opportunities to reduce any potential costs or increase 
potential benefits resulting from these proposed requirements without 
impeding the effective and efficient administration of the Race to the 
Top program.

Accounting Statement

    As required by OMB Circular A-4 (available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/circulars/a004/a-4.pdf), in the following table, we have prepared an accounting 
statement showing the classification of the expenditures associated 
with the provisions of this proposed regulatory action. This table 
provides our best estimate of the Federal payments to be made to States 
under this program as a result of this proposed regulatory action. 
Expenditures are classified as transfers to States.

      Accounting Statement Classification of Estimated Expenditures
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Category                            Transfers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annualized Monetized Transfers.........  $200,000,000
From Whom to Whom?.....................  Federal Government to States.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Race to the Top Phase 3 award process would provide 
approximately $200 million in competitive grants to eligible States.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    These proposed regulations contain information collection 
requirements. However, because the eligible applicants for Race to the 
Top Phase 3 awards are fewer than 10, these collections are not subject 
to approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3502(3)(A)(i)).

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    The Secretary certifies that this proposed regulatory action will 
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. The small entities that this proposed regulatory action will 
affect are small LEAs receiving funds under this program.
    This proposed regulatory action will not have a significant 
economic impact on small LEAs because they will be able to meet the 
costs of compliance with this regulatory action using the funds 
provided under this program.
    The Secretary invites comments from small LEAs as to whether they 
believe this proposed regulatory action would have a significant 
economic impact on them and, if so, requests evidence to support that 
belief.

Effect on Other Levels of Government

    We have also determined that this regulatory action would not 
unduly interfere with State, local, and Tribal governments in the 
exercise of their governmental functions.

Assessment of Educational Impact

    In accordance with section 411 of the General Education Provisions 
Act, 20 U.S.C. 1221e-4, the Department invites comment on whether these 
requirements do not require transmission of information that any other 
agency or authority of the United States gathers or makes available.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive 
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened 
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State 
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
actions for this program.

Accessible Format

    Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an 
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on

[[Page 56188]]

request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

Electronic Access to This Document

    The official version of this document is the document published in 
the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of 
the Federal Register is available via the Federal Digital System at 
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF 
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    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
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feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: September 6, 2011.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2011-23123 Filed 9-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P