What killed California’s chances at winning funding in the federal Race to the Top education grant program? A look at the applications, which the Department of Education released on Wednesday, showed that what sunk the state were several key areas of assessment, writes The Educated Guess’s John Fensterwald in his post mortem today.

The five anonymous reviewers (who would want to be named in such a heated competition for $4.3 billion?) scored California’s application well in certain key categories, generally approving of reform that put school districts in control. But certain key areas got failing marks, Fensterwald notes:

“But what stopped them, with one exception, from giving the state winning marks were three areas that participating superintendents and state officials figured would be problematic: lack of union support for the application; a troubled statewide data system that lags behind other states; and uncertainty whether the state could deliver commitments to create more effective teachers and principals.”

While some may consider this information as confirming their view that the teachers’ unions are the prime obstacle to education reform in the state, UCLA’s John Rogers tells the AP that budget cuts are a fundamental problem for California, making any education reforms difficult. Rogers notes that the winning states all have well-funded public education systems.