The National Council on Teacher Quality (hat tip: EdReformer) is predicting that New Jersey will be one of eight losers in the Race To The Top competition. In “The Final Stretch: Analysis of Round 2 Race To The Top Finalists” the Council concludes,

We get that a state that needs to move forward unilaterally without its teacher organizations on board must be willing and prepared to do so. But while we know New Jersey is willing, we aren’t so sure New Jersey is prepared. We would have liked to have been able to give the state at least a yellow light for presenting a set of teacher reform plans with merit. But we have serious concerns about whether the state can pull off the promised reform agenda. And the reform proposals are still too tentative, with too many of the details to be worked out later by stakeholders who now appear to be at war with one another, to garner a vote of confidence from NCTQ.

Other states in the losers’ column are California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.