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Gov. Bob Wise Comments on School Improvement Grants Program Data Released Today by U.S. Department of Education

“When searching for a cure for a disease, medical scientists don’t give up when they only see incremental progress,” said Gov. Wise.

WASHINGTON, DC – This morning, the U.S. Department of Education released new data on the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, which provides support to the nation’s lowest-performing schools. In response, Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia, made the following statement:

“When searching for a cure for a disease, medical scientists don’t give up when they only see incremental progress. They see it as confirmation for their hard work, roll up their sleeves, and redouble their efforts.

“Today’s results show that dedication and dollars are leading to diplomas; after three years of implementation, SIG schools are increasing their graduation rates at three times the national average. SIG high schools also had greater increases in average mathematics and reading proficiency scores than those for all public schools.

“Today’s results are not perfect; not all SIG schools are improving. The SIG program is not a complete cure for what ails the nation’s lowest-performing high schools, but it is a vitally important program—one of the very few federal programs that targets the toughest cases in the education reform hospital.

“Importantly, the U.S. Department of Education recently made substantial improvements to the program to make it more effective.

“I urge Congress to continue funding this important program that is helping local practitioners drive improvements in the nation’s lowest-performing schools.”

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The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, DC–based national policy and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those traditionally underserved, graduate from high school ready for success in college, work, and citizenship. www.all4ed.org