(IMAGE: Funderstanding)

BY BLAKE HANSON

After an intense battle, the winners of President Obama’s “Race to the Top” initiative have reached the peak. All nine of them. In mostly blue states. Here’s NJ Today...

“The federal government handing out half a billion dollars in education grants to nine states, money aimed at accelerating the learning curve for America’s youngest students. The competition was intense, the state’s had to demonstrate effective plans to prepare pre-k students for kindergarten and beyond.”

Political news site Y’all Politics lists the winning states, and quotes Mississippi governor Haley Barbour -- who notes a striking similarity amongst the winners.

“California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington state were announced as winners at the White House... ‘Of the nine states that got a Race to the Top award, only one has a Republican governor. I wish it had been us,’ Gov. Haley Barbour said in a statement.”

Scrolling the headlines you’ll notice a familiar trend among local media outlets from the losing states. Many are upset they’ve lost again. But, winning states will happily accept their checks. And the Christian Science Monitor has a more positive outlook -- saying -- win or lose -- the competition alone has its benefits...

“The ripple effect could be much larger, since Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and the 26 other states that competed now have a vision for better supporting pre-K teachers and bringing together more systems of health care, social services, child care, and education.”

Still, Education Week offers yet another perspective -- saying one of the biggest losers -- was actually one of the nine winners -- California.

“This was the biggest loser among the winners. It wanted nearly $100 million (the cap the U.S. Department of Education set), but with only $500 million available and a 9th place finish, only $52 million was left for them. That's not a lot of money for a state with more than 6 million students.”

This was Round 2 of the Race to the Top program. No word yet on if or when there will be a Round 3.