Race to the Top is a program receiving support under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This program will provide extra funding to states to create assessments for students to get them prepared for college and acquire the proper education in highschool. These will be standardized tests that will make sure students have gained the proper knowledge to succeed in college and after college.
This program was authorized April 6, 2010 and states were urged to apply for this extra funding. [click here for detailed information]
The New York Times covered this act in detail here. This act provides substantial financing for various states and the NYT offers an unbiased report and detailed outline of the program. However, after the winners were announced, the coverage shifted from unbiased to slightly suspicious. This article concentrated not only on the winners, but the fact that the states awarded these grants were all on the east coast. The article goes beyond mere facts and goes a step further to arouse suspicion in the selection process.
Other sources that covered this act and the announcement of the winners were ABC News, Politico, and a few blogs including ‘FrumForum’ and ‘Examiner National.’
Liza Weidle, with Examiner National, covered the story with a positive tone, portraying the grants as a great addition to the economy and using quotes from prestigious people in education from the winning states. These quotes were all positive and thankful, and each showed their appreciation and excitement for the awarded grants. She wrote the story with the intent to show that these grants were the right thing to do for the country.
On the other hand, FrumForum covered the issue in a much less biased manner. The text remained unmoved, simply presenting the facts as they were, with the winning states and how much each was rewarded. FrumForum did not provide commentary on whether this act was positive or negative.
MaryKate's Blog 