Our guide to San Diego’s public schools is finally here!
Since November, we’ve been hard a work pulling together our seventh edition of A Parent’s Guide to San Diego Schools. The guide has data, analysis and articles that aim to provide families with tools to make the best choice for their child.
We work in partnership with UC San Diego Extended Studies Center for Research and Evaluation to break down test score data and more in an easy-to-understand format.
You can download your copy of the guide here. It’s free.
Exclusive! As if producing a guide to all the public schools in San Diego wasn’t hard enough, we challenged ourselves to present two new metrics for parents. The first is one that looks at how a school was impacted by the pandemic and how it has recovered. The second looks at Career Technical Education programs and how well some are setting up your child for socio-economic success.
Education reporter Jakob McWhinney wrote about what the new data points tell us about schools in San Diego. Read more here.
We’re here to help. Are you a parent wondering which school to send your child to? Do you need help understanding the data in the guide? We’re hosting a series of workshops this month and next. Our first one is today at 1 p.m. at the Mission Valley Library. If you can’t make it, here are other upcoming events.
Do you have feedback on the guide? Email me andrea.lopez@voiceofsandiego.org
The Beef with Housing Cont.
Last November, there was a race that got my attention.
North County reporter Tigist Layne told me things were not looking great for Encinitas incumbent Mayor Tony Kranz. He was facing a challenge from Bruce Ehlers, a councilmember who was tapping into residents’ long feud with state housing laws.
As she reported, the race came down to the city’s oldest debate: housing. Kranz felt it was useless for the city to fight against state housing laws, and he thought the focus should be on mitigating impact of new developments and getting the state to chip in.
Elhers said he wanted to fight.
Ultimately, Elher’s message resonated with voters. He won in November.
But since Mayor Elhers and new councilmembers who also ran on anti-housing platforms took charge of the city, they’ve moved controversial housing projects forward. Some residents are upset.
They are wondering what’s going on. What happened to the promises of fighting back?
Lanye writes that Elhers is now saying: It’s not worth fighting the state. Instead, the city needs to push for change at the state level. Sound familiar?
City COO Is Out
Nearly three years ago, we learned the city of San Diego would welcome a new face.
Eric Dargan was hired as the chief operating officer. He was known to many as “the pothole man” for speeding up pothole repairs as Houston’s public works department leader. When he started, he set out to listen to people.
The Union-Tribune reported that a year into his new gig, he flagged issues with infrastructure, fire facilities and the city’s response to homelessness. One of his big projects became getting philanthropy to help address the homelessness crisis.
At the time, the paper wrote, “If Gloria wins re-election in November, Dargan hopes much of his vision can be achieved by the end of the mayor’s second term.”
Gloria did win, but Dargan won’t be a part of the work. Gloria announced this week that he was eliminating the COO position and taking over the responsibilities. The mayor announced this alongside other changes to address the city’s budget situation.
Was performance an issue? Gloria didn’t say. But our Will Huntsberry followed up on what some in City Hall had been saying about Dargan. Read the story here.
Editor in Chief Scott Lewis explained the history of San Diego’s strong mayor system and set out to understand how Gloria’s day-to-day responsibilities will change. Read more here.
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- This story is too wild to summarize in one sentence. Our Jim Hinch revealed this week how a plan to remove a school board trustee in Chula Vista backfired on the people who wanted that person out. The story is really good, read it here.
- If you haven’t heard already, we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary! Twenty years. Wow. We still feel like the new kids on the block. In honor of our anniversary, our newsroom is looking back at some of our most impactful investigations. We’ll publish a new story every month on how our work has helped shape San Diego. If you’re interested in reading those stories and more, click here.
- Voice contributor Kate Morrissey revealed that resettlement agencies that work with newly arrived refugees are scrambling to help them after the president froze federal funding that pays for their housing and other needs. Morrissey spoke to some refugees who are already facing evictions and terrified of what’s next. Read the story here.