11:04 AM 02 Feb 1999
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Message Creation Date was at 2-FEB-1999 10:59:00
PRESIDENT CLINTOND!,S PLAN FOR TURNING AROUND LOW PERFORMING SCHOOLS
February 2, 1999
In his State of the Union Address, President Clinton called on all states
and
school districts to identify and turn around their worst-performing
schools --
or shut them down. Today, in a visit to the Jackson/Mann Elementary
School in
Brighton, Massachusetts, President Clinton will announce a $200 million
initiative in the FY 2000 budget to ensure that states and school districts
take the necessary corrective actions to improve low-performing schools.
$200 Million to Turn Around Low Performing Schools. The PresidentO!,s FY
2000
budget includes $200 million in new funds for the Title I program, to be
set
aside for intervening in low-performing schools. The PresidentO!,s
proposal
would require states and school districts to identify the schools with the
low
est achievement levels and least improvement, assess each of their needs,
and
implement individual corrective action plans to turn these schools
around. The
corrective action plans could include such steps as intensive teacher
training,
disciplinary assistance, and implementation of proven school reforms. If
these
actions fail to improve student achievement within two years, the
PresidentO!, s
proposal would require states and school districts to take additional
corrective actions, such as permitting all students to attend other public
schools; reconstituting the school, by evaluating the staff (faculty and
administration) and making appropriate changes; or closing the school and
reopening it as a charter school or with an entirely new staff. The funds
prov
ided in the PresidentO!,s budget would support these interventions.
An Approach that Works. Experience demonstrates such interventions raise
student achievement and improve schools when coupled with adequate
resources to
support change. After North Carolina sent assistance teams into its 15
worst-performing elementary and middle schools in 1997, 14 turned around
within
the year and met state standards in reading and math. Similar results have
occurred in individual school districts across the country. The Miami-Dade
School District identified 45 low-performing schools in 1995, implemented
inten
sive three-year corrective action plans including schoolwide reading
programs
and improved technology, and determined last year that all of the schools
had
made progress. And in New York City, the Chancellor (superintendent) of
the
school system took direct control of the ten worst-performing schools in
1996
and determined just two years later that half the schools had made
sufficient
progress to be removed from his supervision.
Making Common Sense Common Practice -- Now. Holding every school
accountable
for results, providing extra help to schools that need it, and
reconstituting
or closing down schools that still fail to improve -- this is a
common-sense
approach to strengthening public education. President ClintonD!,s
proposal will
dramatically accelerate efforts by states and school districts to turn
around
low-performing schools. In March 1996, President Clinton challenged every
state and school district to take responsibility for intervening in
low-performing schools. According to a recent Education Week study, 19
states
currently have policies in place to help improve low-performing schools. A
growing number of urban school systems, including New York City, San
Francisco,
Dade County, Philadelphia, and Chicago, also are taking steps to intervene
aggressively in schools with the lowest achievement levels and least
improvement. The Boston Public Schools will begin next year to place their
lowest-performing schools under intensive corrective action plans. The
PresidentD!,s proposal will ensure that every state and school district
take
responsibility to turn around low-performing schools, and that more of our
children get a quality education.
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