Sen. Reid Slams Governor for 'Lack of Leadership' in Race to the Top

LAS VEGAS -- Nevada has been eliminated from consideration for "Race to the Top" education federal funding.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia were named finalists in the second round of the federal school reform grant competition, giving them a chance to win a share of $3 billion.

Nevada's application process was a bumpy one. In February, state legislators amended a statute removing 15-words that banned student test scores from having weight on teacher's assessments. That move made Nevada the only state ineligible to apply.

With pressure from teachers, lawmakers later clarified, saying scores would be just part of their evaluation.

The Clark County School District would have received nearly 70-percent of the funding, and losing the cash hurts its financial crisis. At a press conference, school board trustees voiced their frustrations.

"There are potential additional cuts coming and very honestly, with 89-percent of our budget being salaries and benefits, there's really not a whole lot to cut right now except for positions," said board president Terri Janison.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid says Governor Gibbons' lack of leadership caused Nevada schools to lose out on the funding.

"While Governors from other states were aggressively working to pass new reform laws and position their states to take advantage of these important funds, our Governor was satisfied with only meeting the minimum requirement to file our application. His delay in addressing Nevada's eligibility prevented the state from submitting an application for the first round of funding. Nearly each of the states named as finalists today were able to get important feedback on their proposals, which ultimately strengthened their second round effort," said Reid in a news release.

In a strong worded response, Governor Gibbons hit back at Reid. "Harry Reid spends so much energy genuflecting before the Obama Administration and carrying out this Administration's policies that are destined for failure. Harry Reid should be fighting for Nevada, instead he is working in Washington DC as a "gopher" for the Obama Administration and has again turned his back on Nevada families.," he said in a statement.

The list of finalists are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and the District of Columbia.

While disappointed to not be in the running for funds, Gibbons sees Race to the Top as a way to identify educational problems in Nevada and work to reform them. "We appreciate the opportunity the Race to the Top competition gave us to take a long, hard and much overdue look at educating Nevada's children," Gibbons said in a statement. "The time is now to modernize the way we deliver education in our schools, both to secure the future of our children and grandchildren and to develop an educated and skilled workforce necessary to diversify our economy and generate economic recovery and prosperity. Education is the intellectual infrastructure for Nevada's future."

Learn More About Nevada's Efforts to Secure Race to the Top Funding

In a statement, Clark County Superintendent Walt Rulffes said, "We were unofficially informed that we did not receive the Race to the Top grants. We are disappointed and are hoping to receive the i3 grant monies. We will review the applications of the successful states to analyze what was included that led to their success."

The competition rewards ambitious reforms aimed at improving struggling schools and closing the achievement gap. Two states, Tennessee and Delaware, were awarded a total of $600 million in the first round.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)