New Jersey Gets $66.7 Million
Federal Grant for Low Achieving Schools

New Jersey has been awarded $66.7 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) School Improvement Grants program to help districts enact changes in the state’s lowest performing schools.

Districts with schools identified by the state Department of Education (DOE) as Tier I or Tier II will be eligible to apply for the competitive grant. Districts can seek between $50,000 and $2 million per school for each year of the three-year grant.

The state has identified Tier I and Tier II schools in the following districts: Asbury Park, Camden City, East Orange, Essex County Vocational, Irvington, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, Roselle and Trenton.

Eligible districts have until mid-April to apply for the funds. As part of the application, districts must identify one of four models to be used to implement change at each school.

The four federally-mandated methods include:

• Turnaround Replace principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half of the school’s teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time and other strategies;
• Restart Convert the school, or close it and re-open as a charter school or under an education management organization;
• School closure Close the school and send students to higher-achieving schools in the district;
• Transformation Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time and other strategies

“USDE’s four models all offer an excellent opportunity for districts to choose the transformation method that is most appropriate for each school and community,” said Education Commissioner Bret Schundler in a statement released Monday. “DOE officials already have been in contact with districts that have Tier I or II schools, and we will continue to work with them to apply these and other strategies to provide every child with access to a high-quality education.”

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