What’s Behind the Tensions at Lincoln High
What's Behind the Tensions at Lincoln HighAmid the shouting matches, the heated protests and the closed-door school board meetings surrounding discontent at Lincoln High, the various parties seem to...
View ArticleCindy Marten: We’re Having the Wrong Conversation About Lincoln High
Cindy Marten: We're Having the Wrong Conversation About Lincoln HighWhen Cindy Marten looks at the dust-up at Lincoln High, she said she doesn’t just see anger over a principal’s leadership style or...
View ArticleWhere Prop. Z Money Has Gone So Far
Where Prop. Z Money Has Gone So FarOne year ago this week, San Diegans voted on what would become the largest public works project in the city’s history: Proposition Z. The construction bond promised...
View ArticleThe School District’s ‘Bait and Switch’ Bond Problem
The School District's 'Bait and Switch' Bond ProblemIn the beginning, there was light. And Talmadge neighborhood residents said it was really annoying. The neighbors formed a group and called it...
View Article‘Good Lord, Don’t Let Me Put Another Filner in Office’: Voices of the Voters...
'Good Lord, Don't Let Me Put Another Filner in Office': Voices of the Voters in Barrio LoganBarrio Logan is David Alvarez territory. Alvarez grew up in this neighborhood, the son of working-class...
View ArticleWhat We Talk About When We Talk About the Achievement Gap
What We Talk About When We Talk About the Achievement GapSan Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten has a dream. A dream where one day all students will have equitable access to educational...
View ArticleA Reader’s Guide to San Diego Hospital Districts
A Reader's Guide to San Diego Hospital DistrictsIt’s difficult to imagine large parts of San Diego County that were once so sparsely populated that communities needed to tax themselves in order to...
View Article‘You’re Asking Students to Hate Who They Are’
'You're Asking Students to Hate Who They Are'Alberto Ochoa remembers how, as a freshman at a Los Angeles public high school, the vice principal told his class that half of the students wouldn’t...
View ArticleSan Diego Unified’s Lopsided Suspensions Ratio
San Diego Unified's Lopsided Suspensions RatioThis post has been updated. When Daniel Noriega was in the elementary school he cussed at teachers, he refused to do his work and he was sent home. Again...
View ArticleSan Diego Unified’s Discipline Plan Exists – On a Shelf
San Diego Unified's Discipline Plan Exists – On a ShelfThe San Diego Unified School District disciplines black and Latino students more often and more harshly than other students, and “has been...
View ArticleHow Reality Changers Won Big by Betting on Longshots
How Reality Changers Won Big by Betting on LongshotsHere in this corner of City Heights, busted childhoods are rewritten. The stories are reframed, polished and packaged as college entrance essays,...
View ArticleThe Ghosts of Superintendents Past
The Ghosts of Superintendents PastAs superintendent of San Diego Unified, Cindy Marten faces a political balancing act, a delicate dance to appease four sometimes opposing forces: parents, the teachers...
View Article3 Curious Reasons a Charter School Was Shot Down
3 Curious Reasons a Charter School Was Shot DownNicole Tempel Assisi, founder and CEO of a proposed charter school called Thrive, showed up Jan. 7 at the San Diego Unified school board meeting...
View ArticleThe Charter School Tipping Point
The Charter School Tipping PointThe San Diego Unified School board recently shot down a proposed charter school, opening the door to questions about how many charter schools are too many, and whether...
View ArticleAn Uncommon Challenge
An Uncommon ChallengeReady or not, here come the Common Core standards. In many schools, they’re already here. Thanks to parent advocacy groups and news outlets like KPBS, which have covered the...
View ArticleCommon Core Rollout Is a Test Within a Test for SD Unified
Common Core Rollout Is a Test Within a Test for SD Unified In an unlikely twist, it’s not lack of money that’s blocking San Diego Unified’s way as it prepares to roll out Common Core standards. It’s...
View ArticleHow Teach for America Did Its San Diego Homework
How Teach for America Did Its San Diego Homework Teach for America broke ground when it opened a new chapter this fall in San Diego, but it was a tough sell. The idea behind TFA is pretty...
View ArticleRaising the Bar on Charter Schools – Again
Raising the Bar on Charter Schools – AgainWhen voters approved Prop. Z, a construction bond that will pump $2.8 billion into rehabbing and upgrading San Diego Unified schools, the local charter...
View ArticleDistrict Staff, Once Supportive, Now Trying to Kill Thrive Charter
District Staff, Once Supportive, Now Trying to Kill Thrive CharterLast month, the San Diego Unified school board voted down Thrive, a proposed charter school, despite the fact district staff had...
View ArticleThe Growing Drumbeat for Universal Preschool in SD
The Growing Drumbeat for Universal Preschool in SDAs part of Superintendent Cindy Marten’s mission to close the achievement gap by the end of first grade, she wants to double down on programs for...
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