There was a lot of education news in San Diego this week.
First, and seemingly out of the blue, San Diego Unified Trustee John Lee Evans announced in a post on his website that he would not be seeking re-election next year. He went on to drop several lines about how bad some of his colleagues have been since he was first elected more than a decade ago.
Voice education reporter Will Huntsberry joined Andrew Keatts on the podcast to break down exactly what happened. They also discussed the added news that school board member Mike McQuarry, who won’t be up for re-election until 2022, will also not be seeking reelection.
This portion of the podcast starts at 6:30.
Mad Principals
Next up, Huntsberry gave us some background on his reporting about a group of San Diego Unified high school principals who sent a series of memos calling out district leaders for not providing enough resources to run their programs.
“If you talk to board members, if you talk to officials, this is a district that is really punching above its weight. It’s doing better than other big-city districts,” Huntsberry said. “Turns out the principals of the high schools do not think that.”
Listen in at 15:00 to hear more.
Bus Routes Affecting Students Across San Diego
Voice’s Adriana Heldiz also joined us on the podcast this week to discuss her recent photo essay about slashed bus routes in the San Ysidro School District.
Heldiz walked to school one morning with Jose Luis Perez, a San Ysidro High student who wakes up around 4:30 a.m. every day to make the three-mile trek.
But, as it turns out, San Ysidro students aren’t the only ones fighting to keep their buses. Heldiz talked with us about how students in a predominantly low-income, Latino community in Oceanside are also at risk of losing transportation to and from school.
That conversation starts at 23:15.
News of the Week
San Diego City Council President Georgette Gomez confirmed Thursday that she’s running for the 53rd Congressional seat that’ll be vacated next year by Rep. Susan Davis.
Gomez told supporters in an email that she wants to go to D.C. “to deliver bold, progressive change for our community.”
Our other usual hosts, Scott Lewis and Sara Libby, were out this week. They’ll be back next time.