Where parents choose to send their kids to school is a big deal. Do they stick with the school in their neighborhood? Do they look at options at other school districts? What about charter schools?
Or do they stay home?
Education reporter Jakob McWhinney reports that more and more parents are choosing that last one. A data story from the Washington Post caught McWhinney’s attention a few weeks ago. The reporters found that the number of children being homeschooled in the United States has increased by about 50 percent since the 2017-18 school year.
McWhinney immediately wondered: What’s that look like locally?
The increase was even higher. McWhinney writes, “The number of children homeschooled shot up a whopping 150 percent in the 2020-21 school year.”
That jump is understandable. (Remember that thing … the pandemic?) But data shows that while some kids returned to school, others stayed home. He writes that the number of children who are homeschooled is still nearly double what it was five years ago. Read the full story here.
Want more? McWhinney spoke with parents about why they homeschool their children. The responses are fascinating. You can read those profiles here.
Shameless plug: To help parents navigate our region’s complex education world, we created the Parent’s Guide to San Diego Schools. (You can download the 2023 guide here.)
A Deep Dive on Bars
Our newsroom is still fascinated by the conversations our Beef Week story on dive bars sparked among readers. If you didn’t read it, you can check it out here.
Will Huntsberry wrote about how some dive bars are ending up in the hands of investors with trendy ideas.
While I was sharing some chisme with my hairstylist on Friday, I learned that she had read it! (Shout out to Kat! She didn’t know I worked for Voice of San Diego.) It deeply resonated with her, she told me, because drinks are so expensive nowadays, happy hour doesn’t really make anyone happy.
Our Huntsberry’s story also got a response from the owner of Gilly’s. It was one of the bars mentioned in the story. The owner wasn’t stoked, but he invited Huntsberry to chat some more about what they are doing to keep cocktails affordable.
Stay tuned for the update here.
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- Our Tigist Layne has done a lot of reporting on the drama at Palomar Health. From financial struggles to beef between board members and the health district’s leadership. In a new story, Layne reveals that Palomar Health’s CEO promised big financial gains by October, but the numbers show a different story. Read more here.
- Will Huntsberry has an update on our investigation into stadium concessions. Turns out that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the San Diego County District Attorney’s office are both investigating the scandal we revealed.
- San Diego’s former mayor Kevin Faulconer is endorsing a controversial proposal to put homeless San Diegans in a remote camp known as Sunbreak Ranch. Lisa Halverstadt explains why Faulconer thinks it’s a good idea. And on the VOSD Podcast, the hosts get into why people want to make Subreak Ranch happen and why, to quote Mean Girls, it’s time to stop trying to make Sunbreak Ranch happen. Listen to the full episode here.
Leave a comment