Utah was nearly a finalist in a nationwide race for school cash, according to newly released information from the U.S. Department of Education.

But ultimately, weaknesses in the state's plans to better develop and place teachers and principals, turn around low-performing schools and help charter schools thrive, among other things, kept Utah from winning $250 million in federal Race to the Top money for school reform, according to comments from those who scored Utah's 217 page application.

But Brenda Hales, state associate superintendent, said she's encouraged by how close Utah came to ranking as a finalist. Reviewers ranked Utah's application 19th out of 41 applicants. The feds named 16 finalists and two winners: Tennessee and Delaware.

"I still feel good about where we ended up," Hales said. "Criticism doesn't bother me. It helps you fix things."

Hales said education leaders have not yet decided whether to apply for the money in a second round of the competition in June. More than $3 billion is still up for grabs.

If Utah did jump into the second round, however, the state would be able to apply just for up to $175 million, according to new competition rules. Hales said that could play a part in whether Utah decides to apply again. If it does, she said, that would mean more time to perfect the state's application with the help of the feedback released this week.

That feedback was mostly positive. Of five reviewers who scored Utah's application, four awarded Utah's plan about 400 of 500 points.

Most reviewers agreed Utah had a number of strong points, such as its current data system for tracking students' academic achievement over time, broad support from Utah school districts and education leaders for Utah's school reform plan, and the state's system of academic standards and tests and its plans for that system.

But Utah lost points in such areas as plans to improve the effectiveness of teachers and principals and the way they're distributed in schools; turn around the lowest achieving schools; and help charter schools thrive.

Some reviewers chastised Utah for limiting charter school enrollment growth. Utah lawmakers, however, changed state law this past legislative session to do away with that limit in hopes of better qualifying for Race to the Top money in the future.

Also, one reviewer was much harder on Utah's application than the others, awarding Utah only 276 of 500 points. That reviewer said Utah's plans to narrow gaps in academic achievement between white and minority students were "not ambitious enough." The reviewer also said Utah's overall plan was not detailed or comprehensive enough.

The U.S. Department of Education will not reveal which reviewers scored which applications. Teams of five reviewers scored each application and their scores were essentially averaged. Overall, Utah scored 379 points of the possible 500.