Polk County Schools has agreed to support the state of North Carolina in its bid to receive federal “Race to the Top” grant funding. The Polk school board agreed Monday to let the school system sign a Memorandum of Understanding that states Polk County Schools will cooperate with the requirements of the grant. Polk County Schools Supt. Bill Miller says the state is asking school districts to sign the memorandum to strengthen the state’s grant application. Miller says the state is seeking about $500 million in funding that may be used to develop a new testing and remediation programs with the goal of raising academic performance in the state.