This week, we highlight what you had to say about a school’s expansion plan, a promise from the mayor, San Diego Unified’s plan to measure schools and sports media.
• Christy Scannell on “Gloria Might Have Played Key Role in Move That Cost the City $500K“:
As a neighbor and a Catholic, I support the school’s educational mission but there were myriad ways they could have achieved their “modernization,” as they like to call it, without swallowing three more homes from our neighborhood. (This is the second time they’ve done this, by the way.) But they made it clear from the beginning that they weren’t going to consider alternatives to acquiring the space. The parking structure they want has nothing to do with parking on school days (how can they enforce students from parking on the streets? Neighbors don’t care about that anyway) but everything to do with providing convenient parking so they can rent out the school and its large convention hall to make extra money on evenings, weekends and summers. Obviously I knew the school was part of the neighborhood when I bought my home 10 years ago, but I didn’t know what a bad neighbor it was.
• Patrick Flynn on “No Lip Service to ‘Skate, Se Puede’ in Mayor’s Budget“:
I wonder what steps the local teens have taken to raise money for a skate park or plaza in their neighborhood? Have they applied to the Tony Hawk Foundation for a skate park grant? Have they contacted the Rob Dyrdek Foundation for help? If the hurdle is funding, rather than permission, they could probably make good progress on raising some funds, and once they start, maybe funding will snowball until they have enough money to build something. I hope they have started fundraising on their own, and if not, I hope someone encourages them to start.
• TY Lackey on “Three Big Hurdles for SD Unified’s ’12 Indicators’“:
Private schools are great, they take the best and brightest (remember to go there you have to take a test and beat out your competition) and create an environment in which theses students (who for the most part have parents who are affluent and well-educated themselves and can pay for said private school) are able to go to school with children of similar means, and experience an education free of the distractions associated with lower classes of students. Bottom line is I had a great many friends growing up who went to private school and did well. I also had a great many friends who went to public school and did well (not that long ago). Please remember there is one fundamental difference between public and private schools, accountability to all those involved. Give me permission to kick out students who do not pass classes, and whose parents cannot or will not control their behavior, and you can measure my success or failure the same as a private school teachers, until then stop comparing what I do to the work of a private school teacher because the jobs only look similar on the surface, private schools generally have very few, if any, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, I have nothing but. Private school teachers generally don’t have English language learners or special ed kids, they together make up my majority. Private school teachers don’t deal with classroom discipline, those kids know they will be held accountable for their actions, my students know they can’t be.
I teach public school because in the face of these challenges I want to make a difference, if I wanted to make OK money for just teaching I would go the easy route and teach at a private school, after all I have a teaching credential and two masters degrees, more than most private school teachers.
• Rick Beach on “Leaked Draft Shows SD Unified Has an Assessment Plan After All“:
Will, after a brief review, this looks both comprehensive and appropriate for the task of assessing and improving teacher effectiveness. While you mention 12 indicators repeatedly, the draft document is quite substantial with 47 pages of details.
When the goal is improved teacher effectiveness, you need indicators to determine areas of improvement, not just a finish line. This document provides a structure and sets expectations for teaching practices that I believe will help students. An assessment tool needs to both determine if something is satisfactory and identify areas for intervention. With these rubrics, we can acknowledge progress in some areas and in other areas intervene with resource teachers, principals or other sources of support in a professional learning community. We do this in business. I did it in my research career. Hopefully, the teaching profession can be encouraged to this, too.
• Dale Peterson on “Padres Fan Who Leaked ‘Rain Man’ Recording Wanted to Pressure Team“:
So why do some San Diego sports media people run interference for sports executives? Because the distance between the “reporter” and the “team” seems to be blurred by the need for access. Also, there is probably some level of camaraderie between both parties. I know this type of accusation causes defensiveness by anyone in the press. But, c’mon folks, there is nothing wrong with reporting an accurate story and then letting events unfold on the story’s inertia.
Mr. Gennaro you do not have to explain the story. You do not have to explain the source’s motivation. Garfinkel and Johnston said dumb things. The five-year performance of each team is below expectations. Neither gentleman needs to be defended by anyone in the media. They deserve more detailed scrutiny for what they say and what they do. OK?
Comments have been lightly edited for typos, spelling and style.
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Dagny Salas is the web editor at Voice of San Diego. You can contact her directly at dagny.salas@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5669.
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