San Diego Unified is under pressure from California and the federal government to make dramatic changes at its lowest performing schools. The carrot is up to $4 million for each of its three eligible schools. The stick is -- well, there is no stick.
But the school district has decided that it won't bite at that carrot. Instead, it will set forth its own plans for the schools, whether or not they meet the government guidelines.
Doing so could make the school district unlikely to get the funding, but the school board says figuring out what schools need to improve -- not what they need to get the money -- is their goal.
"Let's apply for the money," school board President Richard Barrera said. "But let's not throw our schools into chaos because we're chasing money."
Up to $4 million is available for each of the three schools that landed on a state list of persistently failing schools last month: Burbank Elementary and two of the schools-within-a-school at San Diego High, the School of Business and the School of Media, Visual and
