Archived: EDUCATION DEPARTMENT BEGINS AWARDING $134 MILLION TO HELP TURN AROUND LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE
July 6, 2000

News Media Contact:
Melinda Malico
(202) 401-1008

Title I Program Office:
(202) 260-0826

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT BEGINS AWARDING $134 MILLION
TO HELP TURN AROUND LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS

Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia will share in nearly $100 million in new support from the U.S. Education Department (ED) to help states and districts turn around low-performing schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley announced today.

In the coming weeks, ED will award a total of $134 million from the new Title I Accountability Fund, part of a broader effort by the administration to intensify efforts to turn around low-performing schools, raise standards and strengthen accountability in public schools. Congress appropriated the funds last year in response to President Clinton's request.

ED is working with the remaining 19 states and Puerto Rico to help them complete their plans for the use of the funds. Title I provides nearly $8 billion per year to improve education for some 11 million children who attend school with high concentrations of poverty.

"In 1997-98, states identified nearly 8,000 Title I schools that were not making ample progress toward helping students meet state academic standards as measured by state tests," said Riley. "Low-performing schools are often found in high-poverty communities and frequently lack the financial and human resources to put effective improvements into practice. Our reports show that fewer than half of principals in such schools say that they get any extra help with needed reforms. States and local school districts must provide the leadership and support necessary to turn these schools around. These school improvement funds will help states and districts make progress toward this critical goal."

States plan to help an estimated 2,700 schools with the funds. Activities will include development of school improvement plans; strengthening school leadership and teacher quality; use of research-based curriculum and instruction strategies; strengthening parental involvement and improving discipline. The legislation that provides these funds, passed last year, requires that students in low-performing schools be given the opportunity to attend a higher-performing public school in the same school district if space is available.

"This administration is committed to helping low-performing schools turn around and to holding states and districts accountable for school improvement," Riley said. "In his FY 2001 budget request, the president asked Congress to increase funding for the Title I Accountability Fund to $250 million -- both to continue the urgently needed support for the lowest-performing schools and to help more schools. Unfortunately, Congress is not stepping up to the plate to provide this crucial funding and they are jeopardizing valuable investments to improve low-performing schools, including smaller classes, after-school programs and Gear Up."

ED urged states to target the funds to schools and districts with the greatest need and to give each school significant support. Virtually every state responded positively by targeting funds to: the lowest-performing schools; those that have been low-performing the longest; districts with the most such schools, or schools with low test scores in multiple subjects. Many states are asking schools to consider how school improvement funds can be used with other funds to improve schools and to seek help as they develop their plans. Funding varies but the average support per school is $50,000.

Turning around low-performing schools is difficult, but it can be done, Riley said. He cited an ED report released last summer, Hope for Urban Education. The report profiled nine schools that overcame significant hurdles to raise student achievement.

President Clinton signed an executive order in May directing ED to help states and districts turn around such schools by providing assistance and sharing research, making federal programs more responsive to such schools, requiring an annual report on progress at such schools, and sending teams into states each year to assist and monitor state compliance with accountability requirements.

NOTE TO EDITORS: A list of states and funding follows.

Final Allocations Final Allocations

Alabama $2,239,838 Nevada 404,519

Alaska 331,109 New Hampshire 341,661

California 16,874,570 New Mexico 1,148,940

Colorado 1,236,784 New York 12,685,548

Connecticut 1,220,252 North Dakota 343,793

District of Columbia 443,121 Ohio 5,244,680

Florida 6,302,633 Oklahoma 1,670,991

Georgia 3,647,127 Oregon 1,193,669

Hawaii 349,637 Pennsylvania 5,825,507

Idaho 407,892 South Carolina 1,747,243

Kansas 976,639 Tennessee 2,336,271

Louisiana 3,317,013 Texas 11,548,173

Maryland 1,779,672 Washington 1,889,572

Massachusetts 2,660,294 West Virginia 1,274,517

Michigan 5,799,632 Wisconsin 2,183,086

Montana 456,525

Nebraska 558,634 Total $98,439,542

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	Final Allocations		Final Allocations
Alabama	$2,239,838	Nevada	404,519
Alaska	331,109	New Hampshire	341,661
California	16,874,570	New Mexico	1,148,940
Colorado	1,236,784	New York	12,685,548
Connecticut	1,220,252	North Dakota	343,793
District of Columbia	443,121	Ohio	5,244,680
Florida	6,302,633	Oklahoma	1,670,991
Georgia	3,647,127	Oregon	1,193,669
Hawaii	349,637	Pennsylvania	5,825,507
Idaho	407,892	South Carolina	1,747,243
Kansas	976,639	Tennessee	2,336,271
Louisiana	3,317,013	Texas	11,548,173
Maryland	1,779,672	Washington	1,889,572
Massachusetts	2,660,294	West Virginia	1,274,517
Michigan	5,799,632	Wisconsin	2,183,086
Montana	456,525
Nebraska	558,634	Total	$98,439,542