After submitting what many legislators considered to be a sub-par application, New York state was named one of the finalists in a $4.35 billion federal education funding contest. In a surprising decision, federal authorities chose New York as one of 16 finalists in the competition, even though the state officials failed to increase the number of charter schools and couldn't agree on a policy for evaluating teachers by their students' test scores, the Post reports. New York will make a presentation to federal officials for the cash on March 15. If New York isn't given awarded funding then, the state can reapply in a second round in June, according to 1010WINS.