Five years. Has it been five years? Well, I’ve only been at voiceofsandiego.org for two and a half years or so — but the Truth Pirates are celebrating their fifth anniversary in style tonight at Liberty Station. I hope I’ll see you there! Maybe we can gab about what you read in the newsblitz:
- We spend a day with the guidance counselor at Roosevelt Middle School, who is trying to “be there” for the preteens, but is unsure if he actually will be at Roosevelt this fall because of budget cuts. School district officials say counseling has been relatively lucky in the budget crunch, but other cuts have impacted his workload and a salary cut is tough for him to stomach.
- Southwestern College is on probation from the agency that accredits community colleges, faulted for governance problems and keeping faculty and students out of decisions, the Union-Tribune reports. It has until October to shape up — or lose its accreditation.
- In the San Diego News Network, school board member John de Beck argues that searching for a superintendent with a committee instead of a search firm, as San Diego Unified is planning to do, is “a naïve proposal (that) should be shelved.”
- Pershing Middle School cameoed in this Education Week story about how technology can help schools personalize learning. It zeroed in on the San Diego Unified tech push as an example.
- South Korean teachers visited San Marcos and learned about how schools there differ from Korean ones, the North County Times reports.
- A state audit cleared a former San Jose-area superintendent of fraud, but it didn’t let the school board off the hook and questioned practices in the school district, the Mercury News writes.
- Also in the Merc: A fascinating look at the University of California sleuths who check out whether you’re fibbing on your college application.
- Want to save a buck? California Watch writes that a state report found that if California stopped some of the mandated programs for schools, including gym tests and spinal disease screenings, the state could save $350 million. It argued that the mandates don’t serve a compelling purpose.
- Want to make money selling your house? You should support higher education. Educated Guess lays out the argument here.
- Parents and community members got a chance to weigh in on which outside groups should get control of Los Angeles campuses through an unusual new plan, the Los Angeles Times writes. The Daily News worries that the process is vulnerable because people can cast more than one ballot.
- New America Media looks at one reason that students are missing too much school that you might not have thought of before: Tooth decay.
- The Press-Telegram writes that Long Beach schools could increase class sizes and get rid of elementary school gym and science programs to balance their budget.
- The Wall Street Journal writes that a college education might not be worth as much as you think.
- The Quick and the Ed isn’t sure that education advocates can be split into two camps, the way that the New Yorker asserted in its profile of Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Eduwonk is uneasy with it, too, but the blogger has two camps of his own.
- And finally, a wowzer from the Pocono Record: An education reporter dissects why spending has gone up in a school system while enrollment has dropped. Thanks to Educated Reporter for the link!
— EMILY ALPERT