Morning Report: Teacher Layoffs Hurt Poorest Schools Most

When the blizzard of layoff slips hit schools, it’s the poorest schools that are buried under the most pink. That’s the logical end of a system that decides which teachers to lay off first using only one metric: how long has a teacher been employed. “It goes back to longstanding but controversial state law that requires school districts to first lay off its newest teachers before cutting those with more seniority,” Mario Koran reports. Poorer schools employ mostly new teachers, since teaching jobs at those schools are less sought-after.

So-called last in, first out layoffs can result in nearly every teacher at some poorer schools receiving a layoff notice. In 2011, 25 of 27 teachers at Fay Elementary in City Heights received layoff notices. In 2012, 1,372 teachers were laid off before negotiations got them all back in the classroom.

• In the most recent episode of Good Schools for All, VOSD’s education podcast, Scott Lewis and Laura Kohn talked to David Miyashiro, superintendent of Cajon Valley Union School District, about the success that district is having with personalized learning.

Desal Distraction

With yet another massive sewage spill out of Tijuana’s sewer system flooding into the Tijuana River, one San Diego water official is trying to draw Mexican government attention away from desalination and onto repairing their sewers. San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board Executive Director David Gibson is warning the focus on getting a desalination effort done “could effectively limit or even preclude funding for sewer system improvements in coming years,” Ry Rivard reports.

• President Donald Trump proposed budget doesn’t look good for programs aimed at fixing sewer problems at the border. (L.A. Times)

Water Tunnels: San Diego Explained

Southern California is dependent on neighbors to keep the water flowing. Some of our water comes from the east; a whole bunch of it comes from Northern California. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed a project that would put pipelines underground to carry water from the north to our region, but that’s an old idea whose friends have turned skeptical. Ry Rivard and NBC 7’s Monica Dean dive in to the issue in our most recent San Diego Explained.

Get Activated

Are you itching to get involved in a civic effort, public debate or to advocate for a cause? There are a lot of wrong ways to go about getting involved, but Adriana Heldiz lays out a few of the ways that are proven to work. “There’s more to effective involvement than just showing up,” Heldiz writes. It helps to connect with others, and to have a clear message to deliver to those who are listening. Some of the best tips involve leveraging local media outlets, and organizing with others. “Advocates can often find themselves alone on an issue, so they need to stay dedicated until others start paying attention,” Heldiz writes.

More on That Trump Budget

In what some described as a really long tweet, President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled the broad strokes of some changes he’d like to make in the federal budget. San Diego may fare very well if the proposed military spending comes to pass, NBC 7 reports. If the cuts to the National Institute of Health come to pass, it would be “cataclysmic,” writes KPBS.

The president separately signed off on releasing emergency funds to California regions hard-hit by storms. (KPBS)

If Trump manages to cut funding for Meals On Wheels, who knows what happens then? (Union-Tribune)

Bond Projects Questioned

A community college bond measure passed by voters in 2006 unlocked $860 million to spend at local institutions, but concerns are once again being raised over how the money has been spent. NBC 7’s JW August reports one department chair recently resigned over lack of response to her concerns about numerous problems with work being done. The committee charged with overseeing bond expenditures “cited the most recent audit report and explained for the fifth year in a row, they have received a perfect audit,” August reports.

Lightning Round

• The Hall of Champions sports museum is moving to Petco Park, making way for a Comic-Con museum in Balboa Park. (Union-Tribune)

•  The site of the run-down California Tower on C Street downtown is making progress on becoming another high-rise tower instead. (Times of San Diego)

•  Mayor Kevin Faulconer reaffirmed his assurance that San Diego Police won’t be doing free labor for immigration enforcement agencies any time soon. (10News)

• NBC 7 rounds up some pictures of the superbloom, the “explosion” of flowers in the Anza-Borrego, possibly saving you a three-hour car trip.

Seth Hall is a local writer and technologist. You can email him at voice@s3th.com or follow him on Twitter: @loteck.