Champagne bottles were undoubtedly being uncorked in the largely Eastern states that recently emerged as winners in the second round of federal Race to the Top education funding, and the party in New York may have been among the loudest. Too bad that in the City of Buffalo, the celebration was a bit muted.

This is worth celebrating, though: New York State gets an award of $696 million and in Buffalo, Assemblyman Sam Hoyt speculates, the district could receive tens of millions of dollars.

While Superintendent James A. Williams often says money cannot solve a range of educational problems, it does help. Buffalo's school district needs to do all it can do to ensure that it gets its share of this aid.

President Obama's Race to the Top program, supported in both parties, was intended to push states to take decisive steps to improve kindergarten through 12th-grade education.

That is working in public school districts elsewhere. The best example may be Washington, D.C., where Randi Weingarten, president of the local American Federation of Teachers affiliate, agreed with Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee on changes to benefit both students and teachers, with a new contract that provides for an evaluation system that adds pay for good teachers and lets the district remove bad ones.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., was spot on when he said New York also should serve as an example of making hard choices, especially when it comes to lifting the state limit on charter schools (from 200 to 460) and to linking teacher evaluations to student performance.

Indeed, New York State seems to have learned a hard lesson from missing out on $700 million in the first round of federal funding. It became painfully obvious that the state would have to dig in and make some massive adjustments. Unfortunately, real change did not sit well with the Buffalo Teachers Federation, where President Philip Rumore is fond of calling it the "Race to the Bottom."

Rumore has had numerous and consistent problems with portions of the reform agenda, not the least of which is tying teacher evaluation to student performance. He did sign onto a local improvement of the teacher evaluation system, one that emphasizes guidance for teachers but not their removal from the classroom. He still believes the state's new law on teacher evaluations won't help teaching and relies on tests that may not be relevant to creativity and critical thinking.

This reluctant concession would be more palatable if it weren't for recent revelations that some students are not receiving adequate teaching in the school district. It's no mystery why parents turn to charter schools; it's evidence of a failure of public schools.

Many of these parents are unwilling to put the fate of their children in the hands of teachers and administrators at traditional public schools. They fear the needs of teachers are being put before the needs of students, a fear that is only reinforced by attempts to block real reforms. They are more confident that charter schools, which spend far less than traditional public schools on students and are not often organized by unions, will deliver their children a better education.

Rumore talks about lower class sizes, the need to help increase parent involvement and services such as social workers and psychologists. He's right, but that doesn't eliminate the need to help a cash-strapped city dependent upon a cash-strapped state to gain some additional educational funding. And it remains unclear that Buffalo's reluctant compromises can win a full share of that funding. The teachers union and district must follow through on pledges to work together toward a better system. According to Rumore, local schools ultimately should be responsible for whether the district improves and, he believes, the feds should let them have a say in how they use the money.

Williams also deserves some credit for swallowing his discontent with some measures of the Race to the Top program and, along with School Board President Ralph Hernandez, signing off on the first-round application. But Williams also earns criticism for his reluctance to adhere to some key components, including firing principals at failing schools. The principal is the most important person in the school, and either puts the school on the right course or is a serious detriment to efforts to advance and graduate students.

Buffalo Public Schools have been ineffective and inefficient in providing students the type of education they need. The trick is to not waste this unique opportunity; then, perhaps, there could be a real celebration right here at home.