Suburban schools could get extra federal funds

Three low-performing suburban school districts could receive priority access to special federal funding to ramp up achievement, the state board of education has announced.

While extra money is welcomed at a time when districts across the suburbs are facing deep deficits - school officials met the news with caution Tuesday.

"The prospect of getting funds to support school improvement is encouraging, but we need to see what strings come attached," Elgin Area School District U-46 spokesman Tony Sanders said.

Certain schools in U-46, Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300, and Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 may get as much as $750,000 per year for the next three years.

The money would come from a three-year, $75 million reform program called the Partnership Zone Initiative run by Boston-based Mass Insight Education and Research Institute. Along with Illinois, schools in Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York have the chance to participate.

According to a state board of education news release, the states will first establish Partnership Zones in districts with "clusters of low-performing schools."

Elgin, Larkin and Streamwood high schools in U-46, as well as Dundee-Crown High School in District 300, are listed among the bottom 5 percent of Illinois' schools.

The money would be earmarked for increased teacher compensation to support extended learning time, professional development and incentive pay. Schools would be held accountable for making "dramatic achievement gains" within two years.

U-46, District 300 and Zion-Benton were targeted because each signed memorandums of support for the state's Jan. 19 Race to the Top application. On top of that support, each has also committed to accelerated improvement efforts.

Application and program guidelines have not yet been released.