By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — New York is still in the running for a chunk of the $4 billion school reform boost from the Obama administration, despite a cap on charter schools that some officials worried would put the state out of the hunt.
New York, along with 14 other states and Washington, D.C., learned on Thursday that they made it through the first elimination round in the Race to the Top Competition. The decision was made based on a 500-point grading system, which ranked states’ commitment to improving data systems and academic standards, among other things.
"These states are an example for the country of what is possible when adults come together to do the right thing for children," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement. "Everyone that applied for Race to the Top is charting a path for education reform in America."
In January, Gov. David Paterson pushed the legislature to remove the 200-charter school cap, but Albany could not agree on a bill before the Race to the Top deadline.
"We have two big strikes against us so far," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of New York's application on Thursday, referring to both the charter cap and a law that may bar the city from using student data to determine tenure for teachers. "That's not going to help going from finalist to winner."
The mayor said the application was "on life support."
The next step for the finalists is to assemble a five-person team that will make a presentation to peer reviewers in Washington on March 15, according to the competition’s Web site.
Duncan will have the final call in how many awards are given.
States who didn’t make the cut can reapply for Round Two of the competition by June 1.
The Obama administration said it plans on continuing the competition in 2011 with an additional $1.35 billion in funding.
