Oregon Schools Receive $4.9 Million to Improve Student Performance

Oregon is being given close to $4.9 million by the United States Department of Education to improve student performance at close to a dozen schools.

The grants are part of the department's School Improvement Grants Program, which the department says targets: "the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to provide adequate resources to substantially raise student achievement in their lowest-performing schools."

In addition to Oregon, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah are splitting $113 million.

"When we launched this program at the beginning of the Obama Administration, we wanted to give states and school districts an opportunity to put unprecedented resources toward reforms that would increase graduation rates, reduce dropout rates and improve teacher quality for all students, particularly for those who most need good teaching to catch up," said U.S. Secretary of Education John King in a release.

In Oregon, the money will have to go to schools that were on a list in 2011 or 2012 of poor performance schools that were considered "focus"or "priority.

The state says that selected schools, which will be picked in January, will each likely have to replace their principals.

A spokeswoman for the state's education department tells Patch there are six schools already receiving grant money to help them turn around: East Gresham Elementary; Margaret Scott Elementary in the Reynolds School District; Prescott Elementary in the Parkrose School District; Richmond Elementary in the Salem-Keizer School District; Warm Springs Elementary; and Woodlawn School in Portland;

The states receiving grants were:

Arizona $10,728,750
Arkansas $5,124,713
Connecticut $3,834,274
Georgia $16,565,758
Illinois $22,114,021
Iowa $3,068,206
Kansas $3,797,139
Maine $1,663,407
Maryland $6,588,011
Massachusetts $7,812,728
Michigan $15,748,198
Minnesota $4,996,817
Nebraska $2,450,726
Oregon $4,896,799
South Dakota $1,453,583
Utah $3,007,875
Total $113,851,005

More states are expected to receive grants in the coming months.