History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Loophole may allow schools to escape state-mandated reforms
- 04-09-2010
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Blog by Corey G. Johnson/California Watch
Last month, the state trotted out a bunch of scary must-do reforms when it released the list of the so-called "worst-performing schools." Fire the principal and staff. Convert into a charter school. Or possibly shut your doors forever. But absolutely no more business as usual.Child, please. According to some excellent reporting by the Contra Costa Times and the Oakland Tribune, a loophole as emerged. It turns out, the reforms were tied to the acceptance of federal School Improvement Grants. Backed by federal stimulus dollars, the U.S. Department of Education offered up to $4 billion in SIG funding to turn around schools deemed consistently low performers. But here's the rub: the program is voluntary. So, if a school district decides to turn down the grant money, the state can't make them adhere to the reforms. (more...)
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