State officials last year dangled an enticing carrot before administrators at California's worst schools: Millions of dollars in federal funding to help turn around failing campuses -- including nearly $45 million slated for the East Bay.

This year, the state is moving the carrot. The California Department of Education is making school districts work harder to get the second and third installments of the three-year grants awarded in 2010-11 unless they can ensure they will fully implement such reforms as increased instructional time for all students.

Education officials also want to withhold as much as $69 million in new federal grants that districts were counting on to pay for reforms at additional failing schools starting in the fall. The state has rejected every application -- 25 in