State schools chief admits future mandates unclear
STOCKTON - As districts work to select the best approaches for improving their lowest-performing schools, California's highest-ranking education official suggested Tuesday that inclusion on the state's recently released list of struggling campuses be viewed not as a stigma but as an opportunity.
During a visit to Stockton, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said there are some schools not on the state list that wish they were, because inclusion provides the opportunity to pursue lucrative federal grant money.
"We have actually been contacted by some school districts asking to get on the list and actually been contacted by a mayor asking if a school in a city, not here, could be placed on that list," O'Connell said.
O'Connell stood in a hallway at the San Joaquin County Office of Education after the announcement of the planned opening for the 2010-11 school year of the New Energy Academy - a high school dedicated to preparing students for careers in green technology.
The school, to be part of the county office's Venture Academy, will be one of five such sites in the state and is a partnership between the California Department of Education and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.