The "Race to the Top" dominated this week's education headlines, but left a lot of us wondering, "who's racing and to where?"

Basically, states will "race" to create comprehensive education reform plans, in hopes of earning a chunk of 4.35 billion government dollars to support their efforts. The program was established by the Obama administration under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- an expansive piece of legislation aimed at stimulating the economy, creating new jobs, and supporting industries critical to our nation's prosperity.

"We will award grants to the states that have led the way in reform and will show the way for the rest of the country to follow," said U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, in a Nov. 12 press release.To apply for Race to the Top funds, states must submit plans based on four areas of reform: college and career preparation, data analysis for measuring student progress, recruiting skilled teachers, and improving under-achieving schools.<!--more-->

States earn points by meeting a comprehensive list of qualifications. A perfect score is 500 points, with certain point values assigned to different reforms. For example, New York State can earn up to 125 points for drafting a solid agenda for change, 138 points for recruiting quality teachers, and so on. But New York could miss out on 40 points because the state has a cap on creating new charter schools.

These standards are already forcing a number of states to reform educational policies. Duncan acknowledged this in an interview with the Associated Press: "States have been doing some things to get in the ballpark," he said, "Now states have to think about how they win."

New York is still working to get in the game, but officials say the state will be fully eligible. Initial concerns arose over a state law that prohibits principals from utilizing student data in making teacher tenure decisions. However, the bill will sunset before applications are due.

Applications are due in January and June of 2010. Winners will be announced in April and September. New York, along with three other large states, has been urged to create a budget of up to $700 million. The race is on.