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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Left out of the race | GJSentinel.com

Left out of the race | GJSentinel.com

Left out of the race

Colorado has twice now been rejected in its bid for millions of dollars from the Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” competition for education funding.

It’s a development that seems to have come as a shock to some observers given President Obama’s apparent fondness for the Centennial State, the kind of affinity that had to have Gov. Bill Ritter thinking he had a place at the top locked up.

Politics, however, now appears to have played a role in Colorado’s disappointment.

We know, that’s shocking, given the arm’s length relationship we’ve come to expect when billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, the vast reach of national policy and struggles for power are involved.

Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien suggested that something might be afoot when she said the administration had a “tin ear” when it came to understanding the relationship between states in the West and the schools in