MADISON — The state Assembly early in the morning Friday passed a bill that removes a ban on using student test results to evaluate teachers in order to be eligible for nearly $4.5 billion in federal stimulus money.

It cleared the Senate on Thursday and now heads to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle who said he will sign it.

The votes came after President Barack Obama came to Madison on Wednesday to tout the Race to the Top grant program and urge states like Wisconsin to make bold reforms.

“If you’re willing to hold yourselves more accountable, if you develop a strong plan to improve the quality of education in your state, we’ll offer you a grant to help make that plan a reality,” Obama said in his speech at a Madison middle school.

Race to the Top is intended to improve student achievement, boost the performance of minority students and raise graduation rates.

Doyle said in his introduction of Obama that Wisconsin needs to compete for those grants.

“We know, we have to step it up,” Doyle said. “We have to face a hard truth here in Wisconsin that our achievement gap is among the worst in the nation.”