In a declaration that raised hackles for its vague, complicated — and some say unfair — criteria, state officials on Monday named seven schools in Santa Clara County and four in San Mateo County among California's "persistently lowest-achieving schools," a designation that could lead to drastic overhauls.
Yet, underscoring the politics of labeling the worst schools in California, the state plans to release an alternate version today that could remove some schools and substitute in others.It's the first time California has drawn up a list of its bottom 5 percent of schools, part of an attempt to attract federal education stimulus funds. Schools on the list have four alternatives: shut down; convert to a charter; replace the principal and staff; or institute other far-reaching reforms.
Education officials say the list isn't meant as punishment, but is a way to identify schools that need help and offer them financial incentives of up to $2 million a year to improve.
The preliminary list of 188 schools in California includes seven schools in San Jose: Hoover and Burnett middle schools in the San Jose Unified School District; Cesar Chavez Elementary and Ocala and Joseph George middle schools in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District; Escuela
