For more than a decade, San Diego Unified School District leaders took pride in the more rigorous high school graduation standards they implemented in 2011. They could not avoid that too many graduates were leaving high school without having taken the minimum classes to get into college.
They’ve had enough of that rigor.
Earlier this year, the school board approved an alternate graduation pathway that makes it easier for students to graduate by watering down standards.
Why the change? At a January board meeting, Jennifer Roberson, the district’s head of instruction, unveiled a startling statistic: Fewer than 60 percent of current high schoolers are on track to meet district requirements.
“There are times when we have tried all the interventions and supports, and we have to have another approach to supporting our students,” Roberson said.
District officials put a positive spin on the new graduation policy: “This is about flexibility, choice and alignment and serving all 100 percent of our students,” interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said.
Four City Councilmembers Urge More Time for Midway Shelter
A Midway homeless shelter appears increasingly likely to close after weeks of back and forth between the city and county over who should pay for it.
But as our Lisa Halverstadt reports, four San Diego city councilmembers want to provide funding to allow the city and provider Alpha Project more time to ramp down the 150-bed shelter and ensure residents don’t fall onto the street.
Last week, Council President Joe LaCava and Councilmembers Henry Foster, Kent Lee and Sean Elo-Rivera jointly proposed a $500,000 allocation following a warning from the city’s housing agency CEO that a closure over the next month could put shelter residents at risk of street homelessness.
Reminder: The uncertainty around the shelter began with Mayor Todd Gloria’s call to not include operations funding in his budget proposal and to instead call on the county, which now provides the property and behavioral health services at the shelter, to fully fund it. Now the shelter’s fate is in the hands of the City Council and county Board of Supervisors.
Sacramento Report: Bragging Rights for Golden State
Powered by technology, manufacturing, agriculture and international trade, California’s $4.1 trillion gross domestic product is now larger than any other nation’s except Germany, China and the United States as a whole.
So, why doesn’t the state seem to feel like celebrating? Our Deborah Brennan took a deep dive into California’s economy and learned that, because the cost of living is so high here, many residents don’t feel the benefits of living in an economic colossus.
Measured against purchasing power, California’s economy actually falls to 11th place globally, just ahead of Italy and Turkey, according to the California Center for Jobs and the Economy.
Brennan reports that San Diego’s binational economy is a key driver of California’s success. The region’s aerospace, electronic instruments and medical equipment industries all thrive because of cross-border connections with Mexico.
Local Chamber of Commerce officials recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to urge federal officials not to kill the golden goose by slapping tariffs on international trade.
“We have a strategic geographic location that helps attract foreign investment,” said Kenia Zamarripa, vice president of international and public affairs for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Also in the Report: Why the U.S. Senate just voted to kill California’s electric car plans.
Read the full Sacramento Report here.
Politics Report: Strong Mayor Showdown
San Diego could be headed for its biggest budget showdown in the 20 years since the city adopted the strong-mayor form of government.
As city leaders grapple with closing a massive deficit, the mayor and City Council not only disagree on top priorities, they are showing open contempt for one another.
Back to the future: Councilmember Henry Foster last week to muse that maybe it’s time to put the Mayor back in his place by scrapping the strong Mayor system and returning to professional city management.
A major bone of contention is the Mayor’s insistence on retaining unclassified managers at City Hall while simultaneously seeking to cut park and library services and impose parking fees at Balboa Park while eliminating dozens of positions.
Since the Mayor has the power to add and delete items from the budget at will no matter what the City Council decides, look for some spicy debates – and power moves – as final budget votes loom.
Read the Politics Report here.
In Other News
- Tributes poured in last week for music agent Dave Shapiro and heavy metal band drummer Daniel Williams, who were believed killed in a Thursday plane crash that caused extensive damage to a Murphy Canyon neighborhood and appeared to have killed all six onboard the plane. (Union-Tribune)
- Also: The weather alert system and runway lights weren’t working at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport shortly before the Murphy Canyon crash, transportation officials said. A power surge knocked out the safety systems. (NBC)
- San Diego home sellers are offering concessions to buyers at one of the highest rates in the nation, according to a new study by the real estate firm Redfin. Sixty percent of sellers sweetened the deal to entice buyers, the most of any major California city. (Axios)
- At least eight people were arrested on Thursday by federal immigration authorities who waited for them outside San Diego immigration courtrooms, multiple witnesses told KPBS. The arrests follow a recent pattern also seen in other major cities.
- The Hazard Center shopping center in Mission Valley is getting a new name and a $5 million facelift after a Los Angeles-based investment company bought the center with plans to repaint it, attract new tenants and add a large public gathering space. The center will be renamed The Landing at HZRD. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch. It was edited by Scott Lewis.
““This is about flexibility, choice and alignment and serving all 100 percent of our students,” interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said.”
what unadulterated bull$h!t.
lowering the standards required for — ANYTHING! — serves nobody. not the students who are denied a true education that can serve them throughout life, not the teachers who are denied their legacy of having actually TAUGHT those students, and certainly not the rest of society who will have to carry those undereducated people for most of their lives when they can’t earn a decent living.
ms. Bagula should be removed from her position forthwith.