By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The Tuesday afternoon deadline to apply for federal education funds has come and gone, with neither the State Senate nor the Assembly acting on charter school legislation that would have enhanced New York's chances of getting the money.
Local politicians, including the mayor, said that the state's cap on charter schools substantially weakened its application for the $700 million in "Race to the Top" funds — a federal program designed to incentivize states to make education reforms.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg accused the legislature of playing "Russian roulette with out children's future" in a statement Tuesday evening.
"We are disappointed that we may now miss out on an opportunity to receive unprecedented federal funding for our schools and our children," Bloomberg said in a joint statement with Gov. David Paterson.
"It is unthinkable that after being advised to make specific changes to enhance our application, the Legislative Leaders could not come to an agreement on legislation that would have significantly increased our competitiveness."
To compete for the “Race to the Top” funds, states had to prove that they were committed to reforming their education systems.
For New York, that meant removing the current 200-school cap on charter schools. But after days of negotiation, the legislature was unable to reach an agreement amending the charter school bill.
The "Race to the Top Application" was sent to Washington D.C. with the charter cap in place.
"Running a race in the wrong direction gets you nowhere. Race to the Top is about competition and we cannot put our children at a competitive disadvantage by passing imprudent legislation," Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson said in a statement.
"We support the State Education Department’s application as it stands, and hope our federal officials can help us secure Phase One financing."
The state will find out whether it has received funding from the program in April. The state can reapply for the second phase of the program's funding on June 1.
