The South Carolina Board of Education is expected to ask the state school superintendent to reconsider his decision not to apply for up to $50 million in federal grants.
The board is expected to make the request at its Thursday meeting.
But a spokesman for Republican state schools chief Mick Zais says his position will not change.
Spokesman Jay Ragley says the board has a First Amendment right to ask, but has no authority over Zais' decision.
South Carolina narrowly missed winning money in two previous federal Race to the Top competitions. The federal Education Department gave South Carolina and eight other states another chance in the third round of the grants.
Zais says the state's public schools need less federal intrusion to succeed, not more.
