Three dozen states and the District of Columbia have expressed interest in applying for Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge grants, which will provide $500 million in competitive funding for proposals that push improvements in early childhood programming.

According to this Politics K-12 blog post on the Education Week site, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are all expected to apply.

Other states could still apply. Applications will be available later in the summer.

For more information on the Early Learning Challenge competition, visit the U.S. Department of Education website.