Thirty seven of the 67 schools are in the fifth year of program improvement, meaning their students failed to make adequate progress on standardized tests for at least six consecutive years.
Such schools are to receive focused attention from the state and district and could be taken over by the state if no improvement is seen.
But thus far, state officials haven't taken over any local schools and instead said they're leaving it to the local district to turn around the failing schools.
"They are to implement some form of alternate governance, but it is up to the distinct to determine what that will be," said Fred Balcom, director of district and school improvement for the California Department of Education. "Basically, the district comes up with a plan in Year 4 and implements it in Year 5."
Under state law, schools that fail to improve after five years must implement one of four corrective plans: replacing all or most of the staff including the principal, reopening the school as a charter, a state takeover or contracting with an outside entity to manage the school, or other major restructuring.
Most of the school districts with schools in program improvement have opted for "other," said Balcom.
"If they choose `other,' it's the