Senate approves school improvement grant program

The Georgia Senate approved a bill Friday that establishes an intricate plan for using grant money in at-risk schools.

An important line in Senate Bill 30 is this one: "If appropriations are available ... ."

The bill, by Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, calls on the state Department of Education to make grants available to plan, implement and improve schools achieving in the bottom 15 percent in Georgia or high schools where fewer than 60 percent of students graduate over a three-year period.