The NJ DOE has awarded $45.3 million in federal grants to 12 of our worst schools. These schools won the money by agreeing to choosing a new model to overhaul their system: 7 chose “transformational” (replacing principals), 4 chose “turnaround” (replacing principal and at least 50% of the staff), and one, Newark’s Renaissance Academy, chose the most radical, the “restart,” which will divide the alternative school into 14 small programs in two independent schools. Here’s the full list.

How desperate are these schools for reform? The Courier-Post reports that at Cramer Elementary School in Camden, which received $2.8 million for a “turnaround,” nine out of ten 3d graders tested below proficiency in NJ ASK tests, and 82% failed to meet proficiency in math.