Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona and co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, sent a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan this afternoon raising questions about the Race to the Top program before the state fast-tracks the potentially costly bills.

Miller asks for greater detail about the size of the grants, state policies that would gain greater funding, and the federal government's future financial commitment to the program.

"As much as I and other public officials want to improve public school performance, we can only do so if we can pay for it. Wisconsin will be gambling with our educational future if we make these financial and policy commitments and then fail to keep them," Miller writes. "Because so much is unknown about how Race to the Top grant dollars will be allocated and for how long, we feel like a gambler trying to draw to an inside straight."

Duncan is scheduled to accompany President Obama to Madison tomorrow for his speech at Wright Middle School.

-- By Andy Szal