Governor Paterson Announces New York Awarded More Than $308 Million in Federal Education Funding

ALBANY, NY (04/30/2010)(readMedia)-- Governor David A. Paterson today announced that New York State has been awarded more than $308 million in federal education grants to help improve results from the State's lowest achieving schools. This funding was awarded through the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, and is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"This funding is great news for New York's lowest achieving schools, and especially for the children who attend them," Governor Paterson said. "As the State faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis, we have been forced to tighten our belts and make difficult decisions. This funding will not only help to alleviate some of the burden on our State's most underperforming schools, but it will better the education of thousands of New York's children."

"Districts are being given an opportunity to use federal funding to provide focused, concentrated resources to help schools improve English language arts and mathematics performance and increase graduation rates," Education Commissioner David Steiner said. "I expect districts to develop aggressive, innovative plans that they will implement to make a profound difference in the outcomes for their students."

In January, the State Education Department identified 57 persistently lowest achieving schools located in 7 school districts. The $308,772,808 made available to New York is being distributed to these school districts after they receive approval for plans submitted to the Education Commissioner. Grant awards of up to $2M per year for up to three years are available for schools with approved intervention plans.

There are four intervention models approved for persistently lowest achieving schools:

• TURNAROUND MODEL: Replace the principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half the teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.

• RESTART MODEL: Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charter school or under an education management organization.

• SCHOOL CLOSURE: Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.

• TRANSFORMATION MODEL: Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.

Additional information regarding Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools in New York State is available on the web: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/accountability/LowAchieve/home.html.

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