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The Learning Curve: The (Sorta) Myth of Student Learning Styles
The Learning Curve is a weekly, jargon-free column that answers questions about education. Have a question about how your local schools work? Write me at Mario.Koran@voiceofsandiego.org. ♦♦♦ I tell...
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Why People Care About Schools But Not School Board Elections
This post has been updated. “If you don’t care about education, we will make you,” Scott Lewis said in a VOSD podcast back in September. That might sound like the sort of bold proclamation someone...
View ArticleHow Old Town Academy Went from Restraining Orders to Renewal
Strong academics have never been a concern for Old Town Academy, a San Diego Unified charter school in Middletown. Whether it’s a product of innovative instruction, or has more to do with the fact that...
View ArticleWeber Staffer Will Challenge Marne Foster for School Board Seat
LaShae Collins, a staff member in Assemblywoman Shirley Weber’s office, will make a run for Marne Foster’s seat on the San Diego Unified school board. “I want to bring the focus back to kids instead of...
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When it Comes to School Districts, Size Does Matter
The overwhelming majority of comments I hear from readers has to with their distaste for school district bureaucracy. They resent the fact they send their children, their treasures, to schools and end...
View ArticleScripps Ranch Deal Would Force Charter School to Move on — Again
Innovations Academy, a successful charter school in Scripps Ranch, has moved three times since it opened in 2008. Now the San Diego Unified school board is looking to send Innovations packing again....
View ArticleWhat Brought Marne Foster Down
Following months of allegations, San Diego Unified School Board trustee Marne Foster resigned over something that had never surfaced publicly. She pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of...
View ArticleBarrera: Marne Foster Ordeal ‘Was Handled the Right Way’
A day after San Diego Unified school board trustee Marne Foster pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and resigned, colleague Richard Barrera said he is confident the situation hasn’t tarnished the...
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Schools Trustee Pressured Superintendent to Pay for Son’s College
Newly unsealed documents show that San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten knew that then-trustee Marne Foster planned to submit a $250,000 legal claim against the district. In an interview with...
View ArticleWhat the Marne Foster Search Warrant Reveals – and What Big Questions Remain
And just like that, Marne Foster was gone. After months of controversy surrounding the San Diego Unified school board member, Foster resigned from her post this week and pleaded guilty to a...
View ArticleThe Next Steps for Filling the Empty School Board Seat
The resignation of San Diego Unified school board member Marne Foster leaves a vacuum on the school board. At Tuesday’s board meeting, the four remaining trustees will decide how to fill the seat. The...
View ArticleAnother Candidate Joins the Race to Replace Marne Foster
A new candidate has joined the race to fill the San Diego Unified school board seat vacated by Marne Foster. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, a retired San Diego Unified educator, announced her candidacy at a...
View ArticleWith No Voice on the School Board, Southeastern Residents Use Their Own
It’s Monday night, and school board president Mike McQuary is facing questions. He doesn’t have the answers. Parents, principals and people from the neighborhood crowd into Lincoln High’s library for a...
View ArticleMorning Report: SANDAG Offers Tough Tax Choice
SANDAG is asking voters in November to increase taxes to pay for a laundry list of regional needs. Now, they’re trying to fashion a spending plan that can achieve the high bar of 66 percent voter...
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What it Would Take to Revamp School Board Elections
The Learning Curve is a weekly, jargon-free column that answers questions about education. Have a question about how your local schools work? Write me at Mario.Koran@voiceofsandiego.org. ♦♦♦ In June...
View ArticleLincoln High Might Open Its Campus to Separate Charter School
Years of declining enrollment has hollowed out sections of Lincoln High’s campus. The school has capacity for nearly twice the number of students who are currently enrolled. Classrooms sit vacant....
View ArticleMorning Report: So Much for Joel Anderson’s Supes Bid
State Sen. Joel Anderson announced to a local political action committee Friday that he’s dropping his bid against County Supervisor Dianne Jacob. He’ll wait until 2020, when she terms out and it’s an...
View ArticleSan Diego Unified Board Likely to Remain a United Front With New Appointment
Marne Foster is gone, but the labor-heavy San Diego Unified school board will retain its power structure for now. Tuesday night, trustees unanimously selected Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, a career educator...
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The Powers of School Police
Last week at Lincoln High school, play-fighting turned serious when a school police officer arrived on the scene, used a Taser on one student and pepper-sprayed others. At least one student allegedly...
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The District’s Ambitious New Plan to Serve English-Learners
The Learning Curve is a weekly, jargon-free column that answers questions about education. Have a question about how your local schools work? Write me at Mario.Koran@voiceofsandiego.org. ♦♦♦ I opened a...
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