Cohen Announces Tennessee to Receive $67 Million to Help Low Achieving Schools
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has awarded Tennessee $67.8 million to help low achieving schools improve. The funds were made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which the Congressman supported.
“Our children deserve the best education possible,” said Congressman Cohen. “We live in a rapidly changing, highly competitive world. These new federal funds will give our schools the tools they need to help our children succeed.”
The $67,766,991 in new federal funds will be distributed under DOE’s School Improvement Grants (SIG) program. In order for a school district to apply for these funds, it must have a state-identified “persistently lowest achieving” or a Tier III school -- a school that has failed to meet adequate yearly progress for two years and is not identified as a persistently lowest achieving school.
However, Tier III schools can only receive funds once all of the state's persistently lowest achieving schools have received federal funding. School districts can apply to the state for the new federal funds this spring. When school districts apply, they must indicate that they will implement one of the following four models in their 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.