This article in the San Francisco Chronicle caught my eye:

California schools lose out in 'Race to Top'

Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 24, 2010

12:35 PDT SACRAMENTO -- California education officials expressed disappointment today after learning that the state had lost its bid to garner hundreds of millions of dollars through the Race to the Top competition, a $4.35 billion federal grant program aimed at school reforms.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced today that nine states and the District of Columbia were winners in the second round of the program. Those applicants claimed awards ranging from $75 million to $700 million.

"I am deeply disappointed that our application was not chosen," California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said in a statement. "However, the loss of the funding may slow, but not defeat, our efforts to improve student achievement in California."

California had made the cut as one of 19 finalists after submitting a second round application assembled by seven superintendents, including Carlos Garcia of the San Francisco Unified School District.

California earned 423.6 points from peer reviewers to finish in 16th place. The top scorer, Massachusetts, had 471 points, and will receive $250 million.

The schadenfreude comes into play somewhat because I live in Wisconsin which was eliminated twice in The Race to the Top competition...but only somewhat since I think federal funding for education is a crock.  Leave the money where it came from -- i.e., in the individual states -- instead of extracting it in higher taxes, washing it through the federal education bureaucracy, and only then sending the money back (quite reduced) to the states.  And, of course, the states have to essentially beg for it since it's federal money now, and they have to toe the federal line if they're going to share in the multi-billion dollar pie.

But this "competition" turns government into the largest reality show producer in the world...you know, kind of like "Fear Factor" or "Extreme Makeover: Education Edition".

I've read quite a bit about the California school system over the years.  They've definitely had their ups and downs.  It used to be that California schools had a fine reputation and there was plenty of money at the state level to ensure high-quality education.

Then "rain forest" math came along and "whole language" and a host of other educational experiments, all of which found California an all too willing belwether, guinea pig, and fall guy all in one.

Now this.  California was criticized (from the article):

for several deficiencies in its application, including a lack of union support, including from the California Teachers Association.

My word!  I am reminded of the 1988 movie "Stand and Deliver" about advanced placement calculus teacher, Jaime Escalante, and his attempt to improve education for inner city kids in East Los Angeles.  An excellent summary of that noble education experiment can be found in this Reason magazine piece.  An excerpt:

It is less well-known that Escalante left Garfield after problems with colleagues and administrators, and that his calculus program withered in his absence. That untold story highlights much that is wrong with public schooling in the United States and offers some valuable insights into the workings -- and failings -- of our education system...

Calculus grew so popular at Garfield that classes grew beyond the 35-student limit set by the union contract. Some had more than 50 students. Escalante would have preferred to keep the classes below the limit had he been able to do so without either denying calculus to willing students or using teachers who were not up to his high standards. Neither was possible, and the teachers union complained about Garfield's class sizes. Rather than compromise, Escalante moved on.

[T]here is no inner-city school anywhere in the United States with a calculus program anything like Escalante's in the '80s. A very successful program rapidly collapsed, leaving only fragments behind.

You know, schadenfreude describes it pretty accurately after all.

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