The U.S. Department of Education has whittled the list of states waiting for their slice of the $3.5 billion in Title I School Improvement Grants to 17.
Awards for California and Delaware were officially announced today.
Congresswoman Judy Chu, the California Democrat who has been a critic of the Education Department’s prescribed methods for using the school improvement money, wasted no time (a lightning fast five minutes after ED’s release landed in my inbox) in issuing a press release (link to come) that reiterates her disappointment that targeted schools must adopt one of four “rigid” models for improvement.
UPDATE: With final word out that California’s grant was approved, the school districts that are home to the 188 schools identified as eligible for turnaround money now have ONE week to apply to the state department of education for their grant. Most of the districts that intend to apply have been working on their applications for weeks and months, folks at the state department told me. Still, that’s some intense deadline pressure.
