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When School Board Members Behave Badly
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. ♦♦♦ This week...
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A Guide to Grounding Helicopter Parents
It’s easy to roll our eyes at helicopter parents. Moms and dads who think schools should start and stop at their children’s convenience. Who exude an air of entitlement, and act like teachers should...
View ArticleFoster Apologizes for Fundraiser That Benefited Her Sons
San Diego Unified School Board President Marne Foster made a “Mistake of the Heart” when she held a private fundraiser to benefit her sons, and plans to return some of the money, she said in a...
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The Learning Curve: ‘What the Hell Are We Doing?’
Last May, during a state Assembly Education Committee meeting, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber implored her colleagues to approve a bill that would require evidence of student progress to be used in...
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School Counselor: ‘I Was Punished for Telling the Truth’ About Board...
One more person has stepped forward with an account of what happened at the School of Creative and Performing Arts that contradicts the version offered by School Board President Marne Foster. The...
View ArticleFather Says School Board President Wrote Claim for Damages for Their Son’s...
San Diego School Board President Marne Foster months ago distanced herself from a claim seeking $250,000 for the problems a negative college evaluation had allegedly caused her son. It was the...
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School Board President Demanded Action of District Staff After Bad Evaluation...
Mitzi Lizarraga, the former principal of the School of Creative and Performing Arts, told me last month that school board president Marne Foster used her influence to meddle in day-to-day operations at...
View ArticleSchool Board Trustee Calls for Independent Investigation Into Foster Ordeal
This post has been updated. San Diego Unified Trustee John Lee Evans has called for a closed-session board meeting and independent investigation to address ongoing fallout involving board president...
View ArticleSuperintendent Says School Board Member’s Son ‘Part of’ Reason for...
Mitzi Lizarraga said she was removed as principal of the School of Creative and Performing Arts because school board President Marne Foster was displeased with how her son was treated at the school....
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The Learning Curve: How San Diego Unified Defends Stadiums Over Air Conditioning
On the second day of the school year, Superintendent Cindy Marten let me tag along with her on a visit to San Diego High School. It was still early in the day, just after 10, and already the classrooms...
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School Board Set to Honor and Investigate Foster on the Same Night
On the same night members of the San Diego Unified school board will discuss an independent investigation into possible wrongdoing by board president Marne Foster, board members will double down on...
View ArticleThe Other Time Marne Foster Pressed a Staffing Change
When John Lee Evans, a San Diego school board member, explained how he knew Superintendent Cindy Marten would not bend to the capricious will of any single school board trustee, he cited a moment when...
View ArticleDistrict Slams Counselor and Former Principal in Document Dump
Emails and testimony VOSD published in recent weeks inflamed a suspicion that San Diego Unified School Board president Marne Foster wanted a principal removed because of treatment her son had received....
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District Docs: Foster Wanted a Fake College Official to Question School...
School board president Marne Foster was willing to get a little creative in order to ensure a school counselor who wrote an unflattering college admission evaluation for her son was punished. As part...
View ArticleMorning Report: Running Women
Women are underrepresented in political office, with multiple studies showing they’re less likely to be recruited by local parties and less likely to see themselves as qualified in the first place. But...
View ArticleEx-Lincoln High Principal: Foster Played a Role in My Removal
Lincoln High School has been struggling since the moment it was rebuilt in 2007. The last leader who tried to revamp the school, by attracting high-performing teachers and pushing out struggling ones,...
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What’s Behind the Annual Teacher-Shuffle Anxiety
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...
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Magnet Schools Throw a Wrench in the District’s ‘Vision’
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. ♦♦♦ It sounds...
View ArticlePrincipal Churn Highlights a Big Tension in Marten’s Tenure as Superintendent
At a meeting of school officials earlier this month, San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten related a story about Franklin Elementary, a magnet school near Kensington. There, parents are...
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Parents Pony Up to Get Bird Rock Elementary Air Conditioning
As heat spiked over the last couple months, some San Diego classrooms neared 100 degrees. Parents took photos of thermometers and contacted news outlets. One parent said she was pulling her kids from...
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