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By Lynn Bonner The State Board of Education unanimously adopted national standards for public school students Thursday, becoming one of the first states to sign on. Noting that North Carolina has been a leader in other education advances, Board Chairman Bill Harrison said he wanted that tradition to continue. "I think I want us to be first," Harrison said. Harrison said the standards are in line with the new curriculum the state is developing. Both the national standards and the state curriculum will debut in 2012. Lessons will stress "higher level thinking" and real-world applications, he said. States have been working on the common standards in math and English for about a year. The aim is to have students hit educational milestones at about the same time and to diminish confusion for students who attend schools in more than one state during their childhoods. The standards also aim to make U.S. students more competitive with their counterparts in other industrialized nations. States that adopt the standards before Aug. 2 get extra points on their applications for federal Race to the Top education grants. The grant could be worth up to $400 million if North Carolina wins the federal competition. Schools wait on funding; low performers' plans hinge on federal money Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer The Sun - The San Bernardino and Inland Empire June 6, 2010 Plans are in place for 11 San Bernardino schools to move in a new direction at the beginning of the next school year. But many of those significant changes are contingent on the San Bernardino City Unified School District getting additional funding from competitive federal grants. As of Friday, California's application for that School Improvement Grant funding had still not received approval from the U.S. Department of Education. The situation has created yet another waiting game for area school districts. "We have our plans in place. We are waiting for the state to do it's part," said school board member Elsa Valdez. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act authorizes the U.S. Department of Education to issue school improvement funds to states. Eligible school districts are those with one or more schools identified as persistently low achieving. In the case of San Bernardino City Unified, the 11 schools were ranked in the bottom 5 percent in the state in March. Subsequently, it and other California school districts with similar schools were required to implement one of four intervention options by the start of the school year in order to receive the funding. The deadline for districts to get their applications for the funding in was June 1. But that was extended in recent weeks, after state officials announced their submission had not been approved. State officials thought they would have approval by the first or second week in May but are still awaiting a nod from the federal government, said Debbie Rury, interim director of the state department's district and school improvement division. Rury said she did not know why the state application that includes the list of the poor performing schools has not yet been approved. She described the situation as a challenge for both the California Department of Education and school districts. "It's a little like sitting on a ticking time bomb," she said. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education was unavailable to comment on the status of the application. During the short time period, Fontana Unified, which had one high school, A.B. Miller, on the list, and five San Bernardino schools went with the transformation intervention. The option includes replacing the principal and taking steps to increase teacher and school leader effectiveness. Those five campuses are Barton and Marshall elementary, Serrano middle and Arroyo Valley and San Gorgonio high schools. The restart option was selected to be implemented at six, meaning they are slated to become district-run charter schools during the next school year. The six are Hunt, Davidson, Rio Vista and Wilson elementary schools, Shandin Hills Middle School and Pacific High School. Making the suggested changes in a short time has been stressful for all involved. The uncertainty about the federal funding has made it all the more frustrating, said Rebecca Harper, president of the San Bernardino Teachers Association. "Teachers and district staff worked very hard in this unreasonable timeline," she said. "Although this gives us more time to fine tune, it is still very upsetting." Indeed, plans for the transformation model schools include extended learning opportunities, class size reduction and flexible schedules Moving ahead with these proposals and others will definitely require the school improvement funding, said school board president Danny Tillman. "Most of this can't be implemented unless we get funding, so we are sort of in limbo right now," he said. "All I know is when kids show up on Aug. 3 to start school there will be schools there and teachers in the classroom." |
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