Today is a big deadline for educators in the state. The bell’s ringing on round one of the Obama Administration’s “Race to the Top” education funding plan.

President Obama has issued a challenge to states to achieve the highest rates of college graduates in the world by 2020.

His “Race to the Top” program gives out more than 4 billion dollars to states that commit to making children college-ready and to closing the achievement gap. Connecticut’s share of the federal funds could reach 175 million. Today, Mr. Obama announced that he’ll be asking for another $1.35 billion to extend the program after the first two rounds.

But, the handout comes with very specific federal prescriptions about how to fix ailing schools – and improve education across the board: More charter schools, merit pay for teachers, massive aid to low performing schools.

Coming up, a conversation about where our state stands in the “Race to the Top”, with Commission Mark McQuillan , Mary Loftus Levine from the Connecticut Education Association and WNPR’s education reporter Diane Orson.