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SACRAMENTO – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced today that he has submitted to the State Board of Education a list of 488 low-performing schools from throughout California that will receive dramatically increased new funding to invest in programs aimed at boosting student achievement. The funds were allocated through the Quality Education Investment Act that was passed last summer as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by O'Connell and the California Teachers Association against Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Department of Finance for failing to properly fund Proposition 98 in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 budget years.

"The Quality Education Investment Act allows us to invest significant resources for some of our lowest-performing schools," O'Connell said. "We can change the direction of these schools by hiring new, motivated teachers, decreasing class size, improving the student-to-counselor ratio, and providing more assistance and training for existing teachers and principals. I am looking forward to seeing the changes these schools make to increase the quality of education for their students, and the improvement in student achievement that results."

The Quality Education Investment Act provides $2.7 billion over seven years to the selected schools. When the Act is fully implemented by fiscal year 2008-09, the funds will be distributed on a basis of $500 per pupil for grades kindergarten through third, $900 per pupil in grades fourth through eighth, and $1,000 per pupil for grades ninth through twelfth. In the initial funding year (fiscal year 2007-08), the amount distributed to schools will be slightly lower.          

Schools eligible for the new funding were elementary, secondary, and charter schools that ranked in either deciles 1 or 2 as determined by the 2005 Academic Performance Index (API) base. Schools that submitted applications were then randomly selected using a process that accounted for statutory requirements for geographic and grade-level distribution.

"This vital law focuses on making changes at our schools of greatest need that teachers and parents know will improve student learning," said Barbara E. Kerr, president of the California Teachers Association. "CTA sponsored this law to bring badly needed resources to these disadvantaged schools. The Quality Education Investment Act invests in proven intervention reforms like smaller class sizes, more counselors, and quality training for teachers and principals. This is putting money where our heart is – with schools serving mostly poor or English learner students across the state."

Most participating schools will be required to implement class-size reduction. High schools will be required to decrease the student-counselor ratio to 300:1 and teaching staff in all schools must participate in professional development. A small number of schools receiving Quality Education Investment Act funds will be given the opportunity to implement their own plans using alternative research-based approaches to improving student achievement. Schools in the program must exceed their API growth target for the school averaged over the first three years of full funding. Schools funded by the Quality Education Investment Act that continue to meet the program and achievement requirements shall be funded annually through the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Up to $2 million will be allocated to county offices of education to annually monitor the implementation of this investment program in funded schools. In addition, $5 million is being made available to two county office of education centers to provide technical assistance to funded schools and districts on how to use the Quality Education Investment Act funds most effectively. The two centers are the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) and the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). Staff at the California Department of Education have initiated planning with SCOE and LACOE for delivery of these services starting this summer.

The State Board of Education is expected to formally approve the list of schools selected by O'Connell and the Governor's Secretary for Education, Dr. David Long, during its May Board meeting, to be held next week.

Please see the attached list of schools selected to receive the Quality Education Investment Act funds.

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Attachment

Quality Education Investment Act Funding