A friend whose kid is yet to be born asked me yesterday which high school they should go to. I’m flattered to be considered an expert — but it might be a little early. Take a deep breath, relax and read the newsblitz:
- We blog that San Ysidro schools have warned the state that they’re in financial danger in the coming years. Part of the problem? They had to backtrack on some of their planned budget cuts.
- North County second graders invented a technological sign language interpreter, the Union-Tribune writes.
- Also in the UT: Seven students were arrested at a Scripps Ranch middle school after a student brought unloaded guns and ammunition to school. Nobody was hurt.
- The North County Times reports that Escondido fifth graders wrote and shared their personal stories through a literacy program.
- The Contra Costa Times lays out the details of a proposed state law that would lower the threshold for passing parcel taxes for schools. The San Diego Unified school board backs this idea.
- A leading charter school operator is closing one of its Los Angeles schools because of lagging enrollment and test scores, the Los Angeles Times writes.
- Despite budget cuts, the music didn’t die in Davis schools. The Sacramento Bee explains how it survived.
- The Associated Press reports that community college students rallied against budget cuts in Sacramento. But Bee columnist Dan Walters says there’s little they can do to alter the problem.
- An Orange County high school is struggling to figure out how it will turn itself around after being put on the state list of failing schools, the Register reports.
- The Californian reports that personal injury lawsuits are increasingly common in schools.
- A new report says test scores are on the rise in urban districts, Education Week writes. Check out the full report here. It includes San Diego.
- The Chicago Sun-Times found that Arne Duncan, now the federal secretary of education, kept a log of VIPs who wanted their kids to get into elite magnet programs when he oversaw Chicago schools. It’s part of an investigation into whether clout affected who got in and who didn’t.
- Science Daily reports on new tools to help visually impaired students learn math. (Thanks to @mathteachers on Twitter for the link!)
- Illinois schools may be able to shorten their week to four days, the Chicago Tribune writes.
- And the Wall Street Journal derides Obama’s newly proposed version of No Child Left Behind as “a reform pudding without a theme.”
— EMILY ALPERT