"Facing a fast-approaching deadline, California senators are being asked to back education reforms that give parents and state officials authority to overhaul the state's worst schools."The state Senate is scheduled Wednesday to consider a pair of education-reform bills intended to help California qualify for $700 million in competitive federal grants.
"We are not in a position to turn our backs on the potential of $700 million to help kids in high-poverty schools," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
The money is being offered as part of the Obama administration's Race to the Top initiative and the first deadline is less than two weeks away.
The state Assembly adopted the bills Tuesday night with the slim majority it needed. Senate approval would send the legislative package to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been pushing lawmakers to act since calling a special session in August.
Schwarzenegger said the measures were needed to ensure California could submit a competitive application for a portion of the $4.3 billion being made available by the federal government.
Lawmakers who support the reforms said the legislation would provide a lifeline to parents and students in California's poorest-performing school districts.