Federal officials rejected California's application for funding through the first round of the Race to the Top education grant program, but state leaders won't find out why until sometime next month.

But that leaves state lawmakers and education leaders in a bind: To try to qualify for a second round of Race to the Top funding, lawmakers might need to pass legislation making changes to the state's education code. They won't know what changes to make until next month, and the second application is due June 1.

"The whole timeline for Race to the Top has been incredibly rushed," said Cali Olsen-Binks, superintendent of Fontana Unified School District. "That's the whole problem we're having."

The Race to the Top program will distribute more than $4 billion in grants to school districts that agree to reform measures pushed by the Obama administration.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and governors of eight other states sent a letter to the federal Department of