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href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/08/california-loses-bid-for-obama-administration-race-to-the-top-school-reform-grant.html">finalists were named by federal officials today and included Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusettes, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia and throwing in Hawaii for good measure so it didn't appear like an Eastern Seaboard sweep.

A little background from L.A. Times reporter Howard Blume:

Critics have long argued that some states, including California, were too willing to trade the prospect of badly needed, one-time funding for policies that were academically unproven and that could prove prohibitively expensive over the long term.

Still, some unions supported the final product in their states. The efforts in New York and Florida were endorsed by Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers. She praised leaders in those states for being inclusive of teachers. She said such collaboration was missing in California.

Governor Schwarzenegger signed the state's Race To The Top application right here in Long Beach during a June ceremony at Lafayette Elementary School. Several state educational leaders were on hand and proudly announced their improved approach to the process, which included using only seven of the state's school districts in the application, including the Long Beach Unified School District. Estimates put LBUSD's potential earnings from grant funding between $18 and $26 million.

The Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB), like some others across the state, refused to sign their support to the application. The Los Angeles Times reports that while this may have hurt the state's chances, federal officials stressed that no one aspect would singularly disqualify an application.

More to come...