17 LOW-SCORING SCHOOLS TO GET IMPROVEMENT AID.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

Seventeen low-performing schools in the San Fernando Valley will receive $850,000 in state funding to help boost their Stanford 9 Achievement Test scores.

The schools - among 62 in the Los Angeles Unified School District - will receive $50,000 each in planning money under the Immediate Intervention for Underperforming Schools Program. Schools in the program are required to reach their performance goals within three years, said Doug Stone, a spokesman for the California Department of Education.

``It's a voluntary program, and the catch in all of this is that, if the schools don't show (academic) growth in three years, they could face a reconfiguration of the staff or, at the most draconian level, a state takeover,'' Stone said. ``But most of the schools aggressively sought the money, and they know what's at stake.''

Statewide, 430 underperforming schools will receive a total of $21.5 million through the program this academic year. In the Valley, program funding is earmarked for 10 elementary schools, one middle school and six high schools.

During the second and third years of the program, schools receive $200 per student and can spend the money according to their needs - on new books, additional teachers or new educational programs, Stone said.

Additional information on the Immediate Intervention for Underperforming Schools Program can be found on the California Department of Education Web site at www.cde.gov/iiusp.