Parents from low-income and working-class communities in New York City have been fighting for years for dramatic improvements in struggling neighborhood schools. Now the Obama administration has focused its education agenda on this challenge and is investing billions of dollars in turning around failing schools. This dramatic increase in political and financial support creates an opportunity for districts to focus on equity and finally get the work of improving lowperforming schools right. Federal funding for school turnaround has already begun to flow. In the next few months, thirty four NYC schools (thirty-three high schools and one elementary school) will start receiving up to $2 million each year for three years in School Improvement Grants (SIG) to implement one of the four federal options: