The awards go to schools that earned higher grades.
Schools are free to use the money just about any way they want.
Principals at seven of the schools said Friday that teachers, staff and parents will help them decide how best to spend the awards. I'm sure we won't have any difficulty spending it. The exact amounts of rewards given to some schools could not be determined Friday because the state has not yet released the information, and several principals could not be reached by the Times. Accepting the reward money puts schools in an awkward position because many educators and principals have criticized the state's grading plan as superficial and unfair to schools serving large numbers of low-income students. A through F, just like students receive on their test scores.