Struggling schools must make big changes

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To get the money, schools or their districts would have to make big changes. One option the schools have is to close their doors and send students to nearby schools. Another is firing all the staff and rehiring no more than half of them.Schools also could become charter schools. At the very least, they would have to replace the principal unless there was a recent leadership change.
Larry Picus is a professor at USC’s Rossier School of Education. He says schools that are struggling tend to have tremendous staff turnover.The Los Angeles Unified School District plans to fire all of the staff at Fremont High School in South L-A after years of low performance.

Students and teachers at Fremont have protested and Picus says the track record of reconstituting schools is mixed.

Teachers and administrators often complain about the stigma of being labeled low performing. But Picus says being targeted for improvement sometimes works. Sun Valley Middle School in LAUSD was named as one of the worst schools in the state a decade ago. Picus says it brought in a new principal and saw dramatic improvement.

Federal officials have assured the state that schools that replaced their principal in the last two years won’t have to do so again, according to Rachel Perry at the California Department of Education.

Still, school officials' reaction has been mixed. Perry says many are making large budget cuts and don’t welcome the news.

Picus says schools need to use proven strategies, such as improved teacher training and time for teachers to collaborate.