Welcome to Bright and Early! This new feature in Schooled will bring you a quick, daily rundown of education news from San Diego to the White House, loaded with links to the full stories. Feel free to send your suggestions to me at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org!
The Union-Tribune reports that school district layoffs will hit counselors especially hard. We explain why plans for stimulus money have San Diego Unified teachers and parents in a lather, and give you the newest estimates of the budget damage — up to $88 million for San Diego schools if those propositions fail.
In that big city to the north, the largest high school in Los Angeles Unified is weighing whether to go charter to reform, and dozens of teachers were arrested Friday at protests over cutbacks. The SacBee dissects a radio ad opposing Proposition 1D, which would sweep funds from early childhood programs for the budget. And beyond California, Education Week explains a new report on the unintended consequences of merit pay for teachers, Andrew Rotherham argues that transparency may not be enough to make school reform and the stimulus work, and the Associated Press writes that despite the frequent handwringing over how we stack up internationally, the kids in the United States are all right.