SAN BERNARDINO - Officials from the frequently colliding worlds of politics and education shared thoughts on Race to the Top funding at an education summit Friday at Cal State San Bernardino.

The university's dining room was packed with educators and local school district administrators, still reeling from recent announcements of reforms they must take to turnaround their lowest performing schools, at the event held by Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino.

"We are here today to look at Race to the Top and what it means for students in the Inland Empire and come up with reforms that give our schools the flexibility to succeed," said Baca.

In November, President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced eligibility for states to compete for $4.35 billion in Race to the Top funding, the largest pool of discretionary funding for education reform in this country's history.

California lost out in the first round of allocation of the funding.

The state is now waiting for feedback to come back from the federal government in April that will describe the improvements needed to be made, said Tina Jung, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education.

Recently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and several other governors sent a letter to Duncan requesting the U.S.