BlitzMax is nice, but it neither has the marketing (Java) nor the hype (Python) those other giants have. It does not even have the most important feature that you need in education: A proper and exhaustive documentation.
That doesn't matter. They don't have to convince anyone to use it. BRL can just offer it, take it or leave it. I am not suggesting anything that would require any effort. Just add a web form for an educator's license application. The schools aren't going to say "Sorry Mark, your language isn't good enough". He doesn't even have to approach them or even talk to them.
We have one here:
http://www.leadwerks.com/educatorsapp.htm
The schools are very receptive to new ideas and approaches. Our engine is about three weeks old, and it is being used in two universities' curriculum this fall, Blekinge in Sweden and a game program in Atlanta. I didn't do anything except add that form on my site. I have not done any advertising at all yet.
The whole problem schools face is that beginning students get frustrated and drop out of classes if they are using a language that doesn't yield results fast enough. They would love BlitzMax for this reason, if they knew it existed.