Macro Changes in a Minute Amount of Time: How Race to the Top Is Shaping Education Policy in Tennessee

• In Event: Agenda Setting and Policy Formulation: Applications of Kingdon’s Multiple Streams to Education Policy Making

Abstract

Though historically education policies have fallen under the purview of individual states, the federal government’s involvement can be traced beginning with the ESEA. Recently, Race to the Top awarded money to support states’ comprehensive education reform efforts. This initiative provides a unique opportunity to examine the evolving struggle for authority of educational governance in a federalist structure. Through interviews with education stakeholders, including state legislators, I explore the initial politics of Tennessee’s legislative response to the RTTT competition. A central focus of this study is the political environment of the Tennessee state legislature during the Special Session in January 2010 where lawmakers met to consider education reforms the governor declared necessary to win RTTT funding.

Author

• Maida A. Finch, Salisbury University