Federal officials say Illinois will get more than $22 million for low achieving schools through a school improvement program.
School districts will have to apply to the state for the funds. They must indicate that they'll try one of four school intervention models. Those include a so-called turnaround model that will replace the principal, existing staff and adopt a new governance structure.
Another is called the "restart model" and entails converting a school to a charter school under an education management organization.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says when a school is performing at the bottom 5 percent in the state and isn't showing signs of progress, something dramatic must be done.