Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

I was all over the city checking out schools yesterday. Got something interesting to tell me about? Don’t be shy — e-mail me at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org with your tips. Now for the newsblitz:

• San Diego has earthquake on the mind lately. And, as we report, not all local schools are covered by an earthquake safety law that is seen as the gold standard — including the planned downtown schoobrary. But there are some who are now wondering whether the strict law is really necessary as city codes evolve. 
• Del Mar parents who are upset about the ouster of their superintendent say they’ll target the school board members in November, the Union-Tribune reports.
• The North County Times reports that an Escondido school on the state list of persistently failing schools will replace its principal to meet state rules and be eligible for grants. Further north, California Watch writes that Santa Ana schools will vie for the money, too.
• San Diego Unified, in contrast, is making changes that the state may or may not like at its failing schools. Check out our blog post about it.
• UCSD announced how many people it’s admitting this year: The UT writes that California residents’ admission rate dropped. The San Jose Mercury News follows the same trend at Berkeley and chalks it up to money.
• This was the toughest year to get into a University of California school ever, the Los Angeles Times reports. More than 10,000 applicants are now on a waiting list — and the Sacramento Bee reports that the average UC student is now an A+ student.
• KPBS reports that more black and Latino students were accepted — now the question is whether they’ll choose UCSD. The New York Times highlights one teen who definitely will.
• Also in the UT: Classroom assistants are on the chopping block in Vista schools. Grossmont trustees may revisit a controversial proposal to name an Alpine high school after Ronald Reagan.
• The Oakland Tribune follows a pinkslipped teacher who got a chance to retrain as a special education teacher through a new, statewide program. This is a lot like what San Diego Unified did last year.
• Middle school math teachers in the United States were outperformed by teachers in Germany, Taiwan and other countries in a study of their math skills, The New York Times reports. 
• An Iowa senator has proposed a $23 billion bailout to help schools avoid laying off personnel, the Washington Post writes. 
• Also in WaPo: A blogger highlights Diane Ravitch’s research about how school reform in San Diego literally made teachers sick.
• The Education Front blogs that minority and special education students are more likely to be expelled from Texas schools.
• And last but not least, Education Week serves up a fascinating interview with a reading expert talks about his last, best hope for getting kids literate.

— EMILY ALPERT