School Employees Off to China Again

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The Chinese government is again paying to bring San Diego Unified officials to see Chinese schools. And San Diego Unified will still cover some of the trip's costs despite a just-imposed spending freeze at the district.

Last year, school board members John de Beck and Katherine Nakamura went along with a parent liaison; now board President Shelia Jackson is slated to go along with four other employees, including its directors of communications and language acquisition. The trip from Los Angeles to China is being paid for a nonprofit affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education.

Unfortunately, it still has a price tag for San Diego Unified: The school district has been cutting down on costs amid a spending freeze, but is asking the school board to approve $835 for registration and airfare for Jackson to Los Angeles, paid for out of the school board budget.

The Chinese nonprofit is only paying to get them from Los Angeles to China and covering their costs once they get there. It isn't clear how the traveling employees will pay the costs of registration and travel to L.A. or which budget string it would come from; I'm still tracking down the details on that.

Though the Fair Political Practices Commission, which clamped down on donated travel for public officials last year, school district attorney Mark Bresee said the trip is still permissible because it falls under an exemption for legislative or governmental travel that is provided by a foreign government or nonprofit.

Update: I heard back from Bernie Rhinerson, chief district relations officer for San Diego Unified and one of the four employees going to China. He said the only costs for San Diego Unified will be the expenses requested for Jackson; the other employees are either covering their costs or have a grant that will pay for them.

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-- EMILY ALPERT

8 Comments so far on this story...

What is the name of the Profit organization? Who was the "Parent Laison"?

Posted by Children FIrst | reply to this comment
November 6, 2009 2:29 pm

I'm sure it's very important for the district's flack to be on the trip. The Chinese obviously are experts at PR and Rhinerson can no doubt pick up on here-to-fore unknown techniques for persuading parents that SDCS is just one terrific educational system. What a joke. These people should be ashamed of slurping at the public trough. Without their titles, no one would be pay them a nanosecond of attention for their educational wherewithal, because they have no expertise. Unfortunately, they have no shame, either.

Posted by jon | reply to this comment
November 6, 2009 3:32 pm

>>$835 for registration and airfare registration? I dont get what that means.

Posted by Carlos | reply to this comment
November 6, 2009 9:21 pm

So...did the first group learn anything we can implement in our schools? Did they file any kind of report that we can read? Seems to me that the Chinese have a greater respect for education than we have here. We've had a hard time teaching that, seems to me.

Posted by Marilyn Steber | reply to this comment
November 7, 2009 11:22 am

It says the director of communications' (Chief Human Relations Officer) trip is paid for out of a grant? What grant? Is this grant supposed to be for the good of children or to fly "Officers" around the world? Isn't this the same guy who was on the trip that bought venison?

Posted by the secretary | reply to this comment
November 8, 2009 5:13 pm

One of the grants is the AP grant, the AP administrator will use that for his trip. Teachers should be the ones going on this trip not the administrators that are not in the classroom.

Posted by john | reply to this comment
November 9, 2009 9:02 pm

For the last 20 years, Hilltop High School of the Sweetwater District has had a foreign languages program which includes Chinese. Every year we alternate exchanging delegations which may include teachers, students, administrators, and Board members. As a Board member, I and several Hilltop teachers went to China in 2007 at no cost to the taxpayers. We paid all our expenses except for three day housing in the Chinese High School's dormitory. Unfortunately the reality of life is that some board members and superintendents are freeloaders and take advantage of every junket at the expense of others.

Posted by Jaime Mercado | reply to this comment
November 9, 2009 8:28 am

So as a board member, are you saying you were a freeloader? If so, are you sorry you took the place of an educator who might have gotten some value from the trip for classroom purposes?

Posted by jon | reply to this comment
November 9, 2009 12:12 pm

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