The California Assembly approved legislation Monday that appears destined for a showdown with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over penalties for the state's lowest-performing school districts...
The measure by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, is supported by much of the state's education establishment. It now goes to the Senate for concurrence.
"This legislation gives struggling school districts the guidelines and resources they need to make the improvements the state is demanding," Perata said in a press release...
Controversy centers on whether the state Board of Education should continue to have the right, after several years of failed test scores, to appoint a trustee to run low-performing districts in place of local school boards...
Supporters of SB 606 said the change would preserve local control while preserving a hammer to force change. Opponents countered that it would kowtow to failed leadership.
I must admit, I agree with several of the first commenters--if Perata and the "education establishment" (read: CTA) are for it, my initial reaction is to be against it. I see nothing in this article to cause me to go against that initial reaction.
Everyone seems to think that low test scores + throwing money at a school = high test scores. It usually just results in a remodeled cafeteria and maybe a computer lab.
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