Back with a Vengeance

I’m back with a vengeance from New York City — and flattered that my disappearance got everyone so interested! Seriously, if you have any questions about what I was up to in the frigid East, feel free to ask me directly. I’d rather not blog ad nauseum about it lest the whole thing lose its air of mystery, but I’m happy to answer your questions over e-mail at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org.

I’m still getting back up to speed on all things educational in San Diego. Here are some of the things I missed while I was out:

The teachers union in San Diego Unified is raising the alarm that teacher layoffs may still be in the cards — even though the deadlines have passed to warn most teachers that their jobs could be jettisoned. According to a bargaining update posted by the union on its website, San Diego Unified is now trying to negotiate a different, presumably later date to warn probationary teachers, who are still in their first few years of teaching.
A wrinkle in the San Diego Unified teachers contract gives the school district another month to warn those teachers. But even that timeline has been a nail biter for San Diego Unified as it tries to figure out who will take the golden handshake, a bonus designed to prod employees to leave the district. If not enough teachers depart, it could spell budget problems for the school district, which is depending on the bonus to thin out its ranks. I’ll let you know more when I get details.
The Los Angeles Times zeroed in on the issue of unvaccinated children falling ill, which exploded into public view last year when children got measles at San Diego Cooperative Charter School. It includes rankings of California schools based on the percentage of kindergarteners who are not immunized — including a number of San Diego-area schools. Thanks to VOSD alum Vlad Kogan for sending along the link.