Tennessee’s Education Commissioner is detailing plans to take control of low-performing schools. The effort is a major piece of the state’s Race to the Top program.

Speaking to a gathering of school board members from across the state, Commissioner Tim Webb said his department will give districts one year’s notice when a takeover is imminent. At the end of that year, a non-profit group will move in and essentially operate as a charter school, with its own staff and curriculum. After five years, Webb says the school will remain a charter school, return to district control, or close.

Webb fielded several nervous questions and comments about the plan from local school officials. He says it makes sense for them to be uncomfortable.

“There should be a lot of trepidation, and it’s valid because the bottom line is the schools that are eligible for the achievement school district have been failing to meet the needs of all the students in those schools for six or seven or eight years.”

Two Nashville examples show that if districts begin to make choices state officials like, the takeover might not happen. The state is allowing Metro Schools to retain control as it makes major changes at Glencliff High School and converts Cameron Middle into a charter school.