Water is falling from the sky. Do not panic. Or if you must, go into your underground bunker and soothe yourself with education news. It’s the daily newsblitz!
- We blog that the people who are helping oversee the $2.1 billion school construction bond for San Diego Unified are going to hold bond auditors to a higher standard after hearing from an outside nonprofit, which alleges that the auditor just hired by the school district has skimped on audits elsewhere.
The Union-Tribune wrote an editorial on it this weekend, too. - If you missed it on Friday, guest blogger Jim Miller argued that the changes California is trying to make to become more competitive for a second dose of school stimulus dollars are “punitive and ill-considered.”
We’ll have another viewpoint on the stimulus money today — stay tuned! - In similar news, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports on how school officials there feel about the California bid for more stimulus dollars.
- The North County Times writes about another wrinkle in Palmgate at MiraCosta College and the question of whether a court ruling will impact the payout to a former official in the controversy.
- The Union-Tribune reports that the tiniest school in the county, which closed, has been replaced by a Christian private school with a homeschooling focus.
- Also in the UT: Kids at Crawford High have been converting regular lawn mowers to run on propane.
- Educated Guess blogs that California is weighing new rules on closing charter schools that perform poorly.
- Opening a public Montessori school in a poor neighborhood seemed like a great idea, the San Francisco Chronicle writes, but few parents seem interested in the program.
- The Los Angeles Times reports on a school that has hung on to programs to keep kids learning beyond the school day, despite budget cuts. Education Week writes about a study finding that extra learning time has an impact on school test scores.
- Even in wealthy neighborhoods, the digital divide between kids with computer access and those without computers still exists, the Washington Post writes.
- Also in WaPo: D.C. schools that previously made dramatic gains in their test scores had trouble repeating the feat this year. There has been a heavy focus on those big jumps, but are they sustainable or realistic as a measure of progress?
- Education Week reports on the arguments over whether a coalition that pushes schools to emphasize “21st century skills” in technology and analyzing information is really just trying to get more technology — which they sell — into schools for their own benefit. The group calls it “a cheap shot.”
- — EMILY ALPERT