HARRISBURG -- George Junior Republic falls under a new proposal by Gov. Mark Schweiker to target individual schools where state academic test scores are low.

George Junior, a residential treatment center for court-adjudicated boys whose classes are provided by Grove City Area School District, would get $32,175 in extra state aid if the proposal is adopted this spring as part of the state budget. The governor's proposal has yet to be fully developed, but George Junior could conceivably find itself under more state oversight if it fails to improve test scores.

Under the proposal, the state would provide $26,700 to George Junior Republic High School, based on $75 each for the 358 students attending there. George Junior Republic Middle School would get $5,475, based on the same $75 calculation for the 73 students attending there.

Some 46 schools across Pennsylvania would be classified as empowerment schools and split $1.8 million proposed for the program. Schools land on the list if more than 50 percent of the students have flunked the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment's reading and math tests in 2000 and 2001.

At George Junior High School, 60.5 percent of the students flunked the tests for the two successive years, according to the state Education Department. At George Junior Middle School, 60.2 percent flunked.

The PSSA tests are scored on a curve based on how all the students statewide taking the tests perform,. Students who score in the bottom 25 percent of all test takers flunk the tests.

A mix of public schools and alternative schools are on the on the list.

Schools in Pittsburgh, Erie, Bethlehem and some rural areas in western Pennsylvania are included.

Schweiker's proposal would expand a state law enacted in 2000 that raises the stakes for academic performance on the PSSA. Under the law, the state identifies school districts as academically distressed if the student failure rate on the PSSA tests is above the 50 percent benchmark. Targeted school districts which are mostly in urban areas have to raise scores in three years with the help of an outside panel or face state takeover.

Schweiker's proposal takes the concept down to the level of individual school buildings within a district. A school building may be targeted for the mix of carrot and stick incentives even if the school district overall is performing well on PSSA test scores.

But the Schweiker administration has yet to say how it wants to respond if individual schools on an empowerment list are unable to improve test scores.

Would the state take over a school which by definition is set up to help students having trouble academically or other problems? Education Secretary Charles Zogby said this week he doesn't know if a state takeover would be a consequence.

"Right now, we're working on setting the template," said Beth Gaydos, an education department spokeswoman. "We'll be working with the General Assembly on legislation." One education advocate here thinks the vagueness on the part of policymakers is deliberate. The administration may want to see private firms takeover these schools, said Tim Potts, director of Pennsylvania School Reform Network.

"I don't think they (administration) want to telegraph what their real intention is," added Potts. "Everything they have done for the past seven years has focused on privatization." Potts also said the proposed aid amounts are too small to make a dent in academic performance.

"You're not likely to turn a school around for $75 per student," he added. "Some of these dollar amounts you really have to wonder about." He said the administration is setting a "double standard" by not including some charter schools with poor test scores on the list.