The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill June 14 that would make some big changes to the $533 School Improvement Grant program.
The measure, which would provide about $68.5 billion for the U.S. Department of Education, would allow add a fifth option to the four highly-controversial choices spelled out in the original regulations for the SIG program. The bill would permit schools to use a “whole school reform model” that has at least as much research to back it up as programs that won a “validation” grant (the middle level) under the federal Investing in Innovation grant competition.
That’s good news for schools that want to partner with programs like Success for All, which works on turnarounds and has won multiple i3 grants. Success for All got a “Scale Up grant” in the first round of i3 and would meet the benchmark laid out by the panel.
via Senate Appropriations Committee Adds School Improvement Option.