Many of the assurances from Race to the Top are embedded in all education incentives coming from the federal government, Matayoshi says. Which means Race to the Top is about more than just this one $75 million grant, but about any possible future grants from the federal government.

All of the new federal education law proposals in Congress include things like teacher evaluations, she added.

“They have become something of a federal mandate,” she told Senate Education Chairwoman Jill Tokuda. “They’re embedding them in every incentive. That’s their strategy. (Education) Secretary (Arne) Duncan believes these are the key strategies that if they can focus their energy on, they will really transform schools.

“All of the assurances in Race to the Top permeate much of what’s coming out of the federal government.”

Tokuda said it sounds like teacher evaluations and data-driven decision-making “is written in our future,” with or without the Race to the Top grant.