The Department of Education recently announced the 23 highest rated applicants for the Investing in Innovation Fund. With over 600 applicants and $150 million in funding in 2011, this was a highly anticipated competition. Awaiting a private match that was to be fulfilled by December 9th 2011, applicants ranging from school districts to nonprofits in partnership with districts or a consortium of schools would receive funding under either Scale up, Validation or Development awards. The partnership that appeared to stand out the most to reviewers were the nonprofit partnered with an LEA. They accounted for 10 of the 23 highest rated applicants. On the other end, the smallest amount of awards went to a nonprofit partnered with a consortium of schools, with 6 of the 23 highest rated applicants.

The education funding landscape continues to evolve, especially at the Federal level where the final 2011 budget deal resulted in the elimination of many highly-anticipated grant programs. Popular programs such as Smaller Learning Communities, Enhancing Education Through Technology, Improving Literacy Through School Libraries, and Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools will not be offered this year. Other programs, such as the Teaching American History Grant, will only be available for continuation awards (meaning no new grant applications will be funded).

As a part of the final deal on FY2011 appropriations, Congress afforded Race to the Top an additional $700 million. While this is a steep drop from its initial $4 billion investment under the Recovery Act, it still represents a significant win for the Obama administration as it seeks to sustain one of its signature grant programs and education reform initiatives.

Regina Renaldi is the Executive Director of Priority Programs at St. Vrain Valley School District in Colorado. St. Vrain received the highest scoring application in the Investing in Innovation (i3) grant competition. Ms. Renaldi was generous enough to sit down and discuss with us the i3 grant and St. Vrain's grantseeking in general. This is our conversation.

While Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 and FY2012 budget talks will likely continue to dominate the political psyche for the foreseeable future, other important legislative endeavors remain alive - albeit in a much more latent way. Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has been a standing priority for the Obama administration, as it remains an area of possible bipartisan achievement.

With most schools officially on summer vacation, now is the perfect time for developing projects and mapping out a grant strategy for the coming months. As many grant programs for educational institutions involve significant collaboration, the summer months can provide time for creating relationships and beginning dialogue with potential grant partners.

While the initial excitement of the Recovery Act may be decreasing, unparalleled levels of funding will continue to flow to schools across the country over the next several months under Recovery Act programs. On March 29th, Delaware and Tennessee were announced as the first two awardees under the much anticipated Race to the Top program. Approximately $4 billion will be distributed directly to states to drive education reform and states will be reapplying under the Phase 2 deadline of June 1, 2010.