San Diego Unified School District leaders this week joined a growing nationwide backlash against educational technology in the classroom.
District trustees voted unanimously to place new limits on students’ screen use and initiated a longer-term process to strengthen district technology policies.
As our Jakob McWhinney reports, parents and researchers are growing increasingly alarmed by what they describe as an erosion in basic learning skills.
San Diego Unified’s move coincides with an even stricter policy adopted this week in Los Angeles Unified schools. LA totally banned screens for students in kindergarten and first grade.
The San Diego policy adopted Tuesday doesn’t go as far.
It blocks access to gaming and video-streaming on district-issued laptops but defers other actions until later this year, when a committee will begin deliberating a more comprehensive policy.
San Diego Unified Trustee Shana Hazan said the district should take what she called a “slow and thoughtful and methodical” approach to regulating classroom technology.
Activists expressed disappointment the district didn’t go farther.
Quotable
“I don’t think there’s any need for kids to learn in school how to use AI,” San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera told McWhinney. Barrera is running against a Republican for state superintendent and is essentially a shoo-in to win.
“AI is replacing kids’ ability to learn core academic skills. At the end of the day, if all a student knows to do is prompt an AI to write an essay as opposed to actually being able to write an essay, that is a huge threat to a kid’s ability to master academic skills and have success post-graduation,” Barrera said.
Everyone Will Be There
You’ve seen it on Interstate 5, a white castle rising above the red stucco roofs of outer La Jolla.
Now you can peek inside. For a limited time, anyway. The San Diego Mormon Temple is holding a rare open house through July 11.
Mormon temples are regional spiritual centers where Mormons worship God and conduct sacred ceremonies, such as eternal marriage and baptism of the dead. Ordinarily, temples are closed to the non-Mormon public. The current open house follows a three-year restoration of the 33-year-old, twin-towered temple.
Judging by photos from a recent KPBS report, the interior now resembles a Holy Hilton Hotel — with lots of tasteful beigy-golden furniture, Renaissance-master-style religious paintings and an immersion-size baptismal font resting on a circular base of sculpted cows.
Tours are free and reservations are recommended.
Water Rates to Rise Despite Recent Sales
The San Diego County Water Authority recently made historic deals to sell off some of its excess water supply, but it still has to raise rates next year.
The agency’s staff proposed a 3 percent rate hike for 2027. That’s less than the 6 percent rate increase the Water Authority projected it would need five years ago.
The sales help keep the Water Authority on the low end of its rate-hike predictions through 2035. But the current proposed rate increase also relies on about $93 million in deferred construction projects that put the agency at “moderate” risk of failures.
That means the Water Authority is being reactive rather than proactive, Martin Coghill, an official for the Water Authority, told a board committee in May.
“We’re really gambling at that point in time,” Coghill said.
The city of San Diego has fought rate increases at the Water Authority in recent years. Board chair Nick Serrano indicated the city still may not be happy with a 3 percent increase.
“You will never see me celebrate any increase, albeit, only proposed. I will acknowledge progress,” Serrano said, supporting the proposed increase to move out of committee.
Balboa Park Was Named After Who?
Did you know Balboa Park is named after a man who never even stepped foot in San Diego?
The park took its name from Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa — credited with “discovering” the Pacific Ocean — when the city was preparing for the Panama-California Exposition in 1910. Before that, it was simply named “City Park.”
A thought-provoking Instagram post by LGBTQ San Diego County News asks if perhaps it is time to rethink the name. Historical accounts suggest Balboa deployed war dogs to kill Indigenous people accused of same-sex relations in present-day Panama.
That is a particularly thorny fact, given that Balboa’s namesake park is home to the city’s largest civic event: San Diego Pride.
In Other News
- The San Diego Convention Center on Wednesday chose Mardeen Maddix, a longtime executive who served as the center’s CFO, as its new chief executive. Maddix will confront a $400 million backlog of deferred maintenance, plus long-delayed expansion plans that leaders say are critical to keeping the convention center competitive. (Union-Tribune)
- A San Diego City Council committee on Wednesday advanced new lobbying regulations that would strengthen disclosure requirements for those seeking to influence city government. The measure would require lobbyists to register with the city and report expenditures every 24 hours. (inewsource)
- Rady Children’s Hospital on Wednesday said it has agreed to resume gender-affirming care as part of a settlement agreement with the state of California. The state sued the hospital earlier this year after the hospital suspended gender-related care for minors following threats from the Trump Administration. (Times of San Diego)
- Port of San Diego leaders on Tuesday authorized a two-year exclusive negotiating agreement with a Virginia Beach-based developer seeking to build a $2.2 billion sports and retail complex on 124 vacant acres along the Chula Vista bayfront. Port commissioners okayed the negotiation agreement even though one commissioner called the proposal “half-baked.” (Union-Tribune)
- Government transparency advocates are raising alarms over legislation proposed by a Los Angeles-area Democratic state assemblymember that would charge members of the public steep fees to request certain public records and give government agencies more time to fulfill public records requests. (CalMatters)
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch, MacKenzie Elmer and Bella Ross. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.