Proposed Requirements-Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge; Phase 2

The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (hereafter ``the Secretaries'') propose requirements for Phase 2 of the Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program. In this phase (Phase 2 of the RTT-ELC program), we would make awards to certain States that applied for, but did not receive, funding under Phase 1 of the RTT-ELC competition held in fiscal year (FY) 2011 (FY 2011 RTT-ELC competition). Specifically, we would consider eligible the five highest-scoring applicants that did not receive funding in the FY 2011 RTT-ELC competition, each of which received approximately 75 percent or more of the available points under the competition. We take this action to fund down the slate of the FY 2011 RTT-ELC competition and to establish the information and assurances that the eligible applicants would need to provide in order to receive funding under Phase 2 of the RTT-ELC program.

Agency Contact: Deborah Spitz, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3E230, Washington, DC 20202- 6200. Telephone: (202) 260-3793 or by email: RTT.Early.Learning.Challenge@ed.gov.