The Sisyphean task that is "Race[ing] to the Top"

Have you ever heard the story of Sisyphus? Sisyphus was a very crafty king who defied the gods and tried to elude death. His punishment in Hades was to endlessly roll a huge stone up a hill -- as soon as it reached the top, it would fall back to the bottom. The poor king spawned his own adjective, Sisyphean, meaning an impossible task.

Today the U.S. Education Department has announced that nine states and the District of Columbia will receive money in the second round of the $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" school reform grant competition.

Once again, Illinois did not make the cut.

Department spokesman Justin Hamilton says the winners are: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. The amounts of the grants are expected to be announced later.

The competition has instigated a wave of reforms across the country, as states passed new teacher accountability policies and lifted caps on charter schools to boost their chances of winning.

Winner's of the first round of the competition are to share $600 million. Today's winners will share $3.4 billion. Another $350 million will be disbursed in a separate competition for states creating new academic assessments.