During the pandemic, the number of San Diego County kids enrolled in private homeschools rocketed up in just a few short years. The number has fallen slightly from its pandemic-era peak but remains well above where it was a decade ago.
Even so, children enrolled at private homeschools account for less than one percent of school enrollment countywide.
In 2014, about 2,228 children in San Diego County were privately homeschooled. By 2020, when schools shut their doors during the pandemic, that number had more than doubled to 5,525. Over the intervening years, the number of children attending private homeschool has slumped down to 4,251.
That number is certainly an undercount, and likely a significant one. That’s because there are a handful of locally based charter schools that offer homeschool style independent study curriculum and their enrollment has been increasing rapidly.
A New Strategy to Help Homeless People Seems to be Working
Over the past couple years, San Diego County homeless service providers have ramped up a new strategy meant to help homeless people get off the streets. It’s called diversion. The goal is to divert (get it?) people from the traditional homeless response and shelter system and help them find stable housing as soon as possible, reports Voice of San Diego intern Tessa Balc.
Service workers do this by working with their clients to figure out the specific problems preventing people who are homeless or housing insecure from finding a place to live.
From there, they often provide direct financial assistance to alleviate that problem. That may mean providing them with funds to pay for a car repair or the money needed for a security deposit.
The strategy tends to be much cheaper than traditional tactics, partly because caseworkers are trained to specifically look for people who would benefit from these kinds of interventions.
What’s more is that the strategy seems to be working.
According to a report from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, 93 percent of the nearly 600 people who accessed diversion strategies got permanent housing. Almost all of them remained housed for the next year.
Song of the Week
Alberta Casey, “San Diego”: The final song on the album is a track taken from the play, “My cousin Josefa.” The musical that dramatizes the true story of San Diego’s presumed first elopement between a native and a foreigner, written by the same guy who came up with San Diego State University’s “Hail Montezuma” song.
It carries a less jarring note than other vocals on the album by Alberta Casey, but with the same shrill, operatic intensity. The steady shake of a maraca gives the song a decidedly tropical vibe that fades to a lull, almost like those moments when the sun sets over a long day. The piano’s light, bouncy rhythm almost makes one forget this was recorded in the 1980s and not the ‘50s.
Read more about the Song of the Week here.
In Other News
- San Diego Unified students were welcomed back to the classroom Monday, but their phones were not. The district’s new policy went into effect, barring students from using their devices after the bell has rung. (KPBS)
- A group of homeowners looking to take down the upcoming trash fee are backing down from asking for an expedited trial. Instead, they are pursuing an injunction to stop the tax from taking effect. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego is number one. No, we aren’t the biggest city yet, nor the nation’s number one spot for live entertainment. But we did take the cake for inflation. Surprise, San Diego’s four percent inflation rate in July was the highest in the nation. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego Gas & Electric will be adding – yet another – charge to your bill come Oct. 1. Following a decision made last year by the California Public Utilities Commission, the utility company will add a monthly $24 “Base Services Charge” for most residential customers. (CBS 8)
The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and Tessa Balc. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.