I’m off to a back-to-school meeting. But first — the education news deluge!
- We take a look at the way companies are given work on the construction bond in Sweetwater Union High School District. The school system ranks the candidates according to set criteria, but the rankings are no predictor of who will actually win work.
- We blog about the closed meeting where the San Diego Unified board discussed life after Superintendent Terry Grier. The Union-Tribune also writes about the meeting, noting that the second-in-line to replace Grier is his deputy superintendent, Chuck Morris.
- KPBS discusses the exit of Grier with school board member John de Beck, business and parent leader Matt Spathas, and teachers union President Camille Zombro. And Marsha Sutton at SDNN writes that “the ghost of Alan Bersin must be buried at long last.” Do you think the very much alive and well Bersin ever gets weary of these analogies?
- We also blog about the question: As the school board comes under fire for micromanaging the superintendent, didn’t San Diego Unified spend a chunk of money on consultants to prevent the school board from micromanaging the superintendent?
- Lest you think schools are all politics, check out this heartwarmer from the San Francisco Chronicle, which follows a school with unusual success at getting black children from poorer families to college.
- The Education Trust West releases a report on the persistent achievement gaps between kids of different races in California. It’s a quick read and it includes some interesting details on when and where the gap seems to become the biggest.
- Education Week reports on another pool of federal stimulus dollars for schools: the innovation fund. You can bet everyone is eyeing this money as budgets keep getting threatened by the state. But they don’t automatically get the money — they have to apply for it and win it with a good plan.
- Wired Magazine praises High Tech High in San Diego for making geeky cool. As a geek, I wholeheartedly back this concept.
- Jay Mathews at the Washington Post denigrates the system that would force a gifted teacher through hoops just to keep his job. It’s a complicated story. Read it in full for all the grisly details.