Schools' extreme makeover

WASHINGTON'S 41 lowest-achieving schools will be notified next week whether they will receive three-year federal grants from $50,000 to $2 million a year.

Help cannot come too soon for the floundering group of schools. They have racked up the lowest reading and math test scores in the state and, for the high schools, graduation rates. Such dismal educational outcomes are unacceptable in our high-tech and literate communities.

Enter the Obama administration, which has turned the lure of federal money in exchange for reforms into an art. This time, it aims $3 billion in one-time money at efforts to improve perennially struggling schools.

In exchange for the federal aid, school districts must agree to dramatically transform their struggling schools in one of four ways: Close the school; replace the principal and half the staff or alter academic programming, for example transforming a conventional high school into one centered on science, math and technology. The fourth would be to convert into a charter school, sadly, illegal in this state.

Wholesale restructuring of poor-performing schools appropriately starts with this group. The guidelines are a reasonable accompaniment to the money. State schools Superintendent Randy Dorn will need to ensure flexibility that allows the money to pay for some interventions already proving successful.

Looking forward, a level of systemic and consistent help for struggling schools goes beyond one-time federal spending. For one, there isn't enough federal money to go around. The schools have asked for $49 million, more than double the $17 million earmarked for this state.

Obama's 2011 budget proposal includes $900 million for School Turnaround Grants to help high schools stem the tide of dropouts. Those efforts must also be built around a robust state agenda.

Dorn ought to lead this charge. The schools chief, emboldened with new legislative authority to intervene in failing schools, should move aggressively toward building consensus on education reform and garnering more participation from wary teacher unions.