Thanks to everyone who turned out for our fifth anniversary last night — it was a blast! It’s an honor to be part of something like VOSD. Now for the newsblitz:
- We blog that a demoted Sweetwater schools official could run for school board. We also give you a rundown of how much the candidates have raised and spent on another school board race. And we report that Shelia Jackson won’t run for county supervisor.
- Also in our blog: How does teacher pay in San Diego compare to elsewhere? And bits that got left on the cutting room floor from my story on counseling.
- The Union-Tribune reports that students at Southwestern College are worried about their school going on probation.
- Also in the UT: Critics are questioning the validity of polling over a school parcel tax. Point Loma schools are pooling their budgets and getting more financial autonomy.
- More trouble at Southwestern: KPBS reports that faculty are trying to oust three college trustees who appointed the president years ago.
- The Reader takes a look at what life is like now for Rodger Hartnett, a former County Office of Education employee who is locked in a legal dispute over his job. Check out some of our related past reporting on a schoolhouse lawyer who helped hire his overseers and a school official whose husband almost always got the office’s legal work when she advised to go to outside lawyers.
- The San Bernardino Sun writes about how teachers unions and Race to the Top boosters could clash over the idea of evaluating teachers using students’ test scores. And in a related blog, Teacher Beat finds that states might have to link teachers and test scores to get federal money for disadvantaged students. That’s kind of a big deal.
- Some schools are pushing back their hours to better match teens’ energy levels, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
- Educated Guess blogs on a report that says California should sweep away programs that force schools to spend money on specific practices.
- A federal program meant to help schools get technology isn’t keeping pace with the demands, Education Week reports. And on a related theme, teens sound off about technology in the classroom.
- The Washington Post reports on a study that finds that charter schools have increased racial segregation in schools.
- NPR explains how Obama might overhaul No Child Left Behind and how it ties into that pesky thing you keep hearing about called Race to the Top. The Educated Reporter dives into the same issue. And on the right, the New Republic weighs in on what Obama is doing with education policy.
— EMILY ALPERT