Indiana to get $9.3 million for struggling public schools

Indiana is getting $9.3 million from the federal government to help improve more of the state's worst-performing public schools.

The funding announced Friday by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan comes through the U.S. Department of Education's School Improvement Grants program and is part of $535 million included in the fiscal year 2011 budget.

To date, Indiana has received $79.9 million since the federal program was revamped in 2009.

Duncan said the grant program is already providing more than 1,200 schools nationwide "with the means to accomplish the very difficult work of turning around some of our hardest to serve schools."

Schools taking part in the funding must implement one of four intervention models to get their programs back on track and to boost students' academic performance.