Nicole Tempel Assisi: The Voice for Charter Schools
It was never Nicole Tempel Assisi’s goal to pick a fight with San Diego Unified. But if the district wanted to tussle, Assisi wasn’t about to back down, either. Assisi wanted to open a charter school...
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La Jolla High Football Coaches Point Fingers After Student’s Brain Injury
It’s been more than three months since a 17-year-old football player at La Jolla High School suffered a concussion during a game and he has not been back at school for a full day since then. The...
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Fact Check: Lincoln High’s Bad Rap
Statement: “At one San Diego public charter school, assaults on campus involving mostly black and Hispanic students occur almost daily,” wrote Vicki E. Alger, an education researcher, in a story for...
View ArticleDeciphering San Diego Unified’s Mixed Messages on La Jolla Concussion
Almost three months after a La Jolla High School student received a serious head injury during a junior varsity football game, San Diego Unified officials have now pledged to revamp how the district...
View ArticleScott Barnett vs. San Diego Unified Is the Least Surprising Fight Ever
It didn’t take long for former trustee Scott Barnett to clash with his old colleagues at San Diego Unified. Just a month after stepping down from the school board, Barnett told San Diego Unified he’d...
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What LJHS Officials Knew About a Devastating Concussion (Hint: a Lot)
Video of La Jolla High School’s junior varsity football game against Point Loma High in October shows a 17-year-old knocking helmets with linemen, play after play. The La Jolla player, who we’re...
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Asbestos Is No Longer San Diego Unified’s Public Enemy No. 1
Just because there’s asbestos lurking under flooring tile in San Diego classrooms doesn’t mean it’s dangerous. In fact, all schools in San Diego Unified are safe for kids, the districts says. They were...
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The Learning Curve: Staving Off the Dreaded ‘Summer Slide’
For San Diego Unified students, Spring Break is coming to a close. If you’re a parent, this week might have had you scrambling to figure out who would watch your kids or cart them around. It’s a little...
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The Learning Curve: The Full Story on Half Days
The adorable neighborhood kids begin kicking the soccer ball against my house extra early on Wednesday afternoons. This happens daily, mind you, but it’s especially cute when I’m writing from home, on...
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The Learning Curve: Dressing for Success
It’s one of those boring, unspoken rules of adulthood. If we want to act the part, we have to dress the part. If we want a job, we can’t show up to the interview wearing shorts and sandals. If we want...
View ArticleSchools That Best Prepare Neighborhood Kids for Graduation Also Retain Them,...
There’s a major problem with San Diego Unified’s plan to keep kids in their neighborhood schools: Parents aren’t buying in. It’s nothing new, really. Parents have been opting out of their neighborhood...
View ArticleWhat Lures Parents to − and Away From − Certain Schools
It’s time for people to re-discover San Diego Unified schools. The district feels so strongly about this, it’s making that refrain its new marketing slogan. Yes, San Diego Unified wants to market...
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The Learning Curve: Go Where the Good Teachers Are
It’s been an interesting week for San Diego Unified schools. On Tuesday, the school board met to workshop a plan for how to keep more kids in their neighborhood schools. Leading up to the meeting, the...
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With Tax Hikes, SD Schools Put Stadium Spending Above Classrooms
There’s a crack in the wall at Hoover High that $923 million hasn’t been able to fix. It’s not a big crack. Visit the school in City Heights, and you won’t even see it. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been...
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Photos: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of School Bond Projects
For the past couple of months we’ve been looking closely at how San Diego Unified is spending funds from Prop. S and Prop. Z, two voter-approved bond measures that will bring the district around $5...
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The Learning Curve: Charters Under Fire
The Learning Curve is a weekly column that answers questions about schools using plain language. Have a question about how your local schools work? Submit your question here or write me at...
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The Learning Curve: The Truth About Charters and Special Ed
The Learning Curve is a weekly column that answers questions about schools using plain language. Have a question about how your local schools work? Submit your question here or write me at...
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San Diego Unified Keeps Its Frenemies Close
On the playground at this Mountain View campus, an overhead walkway is the boundary that separates two schools. On one side, students from San Diego Cooperative charter school play. One kid strums a...
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The Learning Curve: When the Bullies Run the Classroom
People sometimes turn to reporters when nobody else will listen. When they want to solve a problem and all practical remedies have been exhausted. This is both a benefit and a hazard of my job....
View ArticleSan Diego Unified Says It Will Start Following the Law on Charter School Space
School districts have to share the buildings they own with charter schools. The two compete for students, so districts may not like giving away their space. But it’s the law. Unfortunately for charter...
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