March 8 San Jose Mercury News: "California must press ahead with second-round Race to the Top application" California got another dose of the Obama administrations school reform strategy Monday as the state released a preliminary list of its 188 worst-performing schools, including seven in Santa Clara County and four in San Mateo County. The $415 million in federal School Improvement Grants soon available to these schools, combined with the second round of Race to the Top funding, raises the stakes for administrators, school boards and teachers unions that have resisted the U. S. Department of Educations mandate to reform.

Its time to get serious about fundamental change. Beginning this fall, schools on the worst-performing list could get $150,000 to $6 million over three years if they implement one of four dramatic improvement strategies outlined by the feds. California schools could get hundreds of millions more if the state qualifies for a grant under the second phase of the Race to the Top program, having flunked its first try - presumably because lawmakers and state education officials