Race to the Top. Nope, it’s not a new playground game. This race is big. We’re talking billions of dollars big. You’ve probably heard about it: the competition created by the Obama Administration that doles out cash to states that prove -- through a detailed grant application -- that they have serious plans improve their public schools. Winning states will get a slice of the $4-billion-dollar federally funded pie. 

So far, 12 winners have been selected. Phase 1 winners were Delaware and Tennessee. Phase 2 winners, selected last Tuesday, included the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

But there’s something oddly similar about the majority of states that have been selected for this funding: geography. A recent New York Times article highlighted the fact that the majority of the winners announced last Tuesday were east of the Mississippi.