San Diego Schools Zig on Reforms While Obama Zags

"The mindset is back in the Paleolithic ages in some ways," said Arun Ramanathan, a former San Diego Unified official who now leads the nonprofit Education Trust West. "They all claim to be Democrats on the school board. Is there one aspect of the Obama education agenda they've aligned with?"


San Diego Schools Zig on Reforms While Obama Zags
March 28, 2010
By EMILY ALPERT

As President Barack Obama has unveiled many planned school reforms, San Diego Unified has steadily steered in the opposite direction from many of the controversial changes the feds seek.

San Diego Unified didn't join in when California competed against other states for more school stimulus money -- partly because the federal contest required reforms. Obama wants to beef up teacher evaluations and include student test scores in how teachers are judged; San Diego has made evaluations less frequent for senior teachers and wants to deemphasize tests. Obama has praised experiments that pay teachers more for boosting scores or working in disadvantaged schools; San Diego has avoided them.

The school district wants to put tremendous trust in teachers and principals -- the same people the Obama Administration wants to oust when test scores drag. The district prizes gradual change; Obama wants big shakeups for failing schools.

School board President Richard Barrera called San Diego's example a competing "community model" of school reform that stems from small classes and cooperation between school staff. Barrera rejected some Obama reforms as a "corporate model" stressing standardized tests and change from the top....

No Automatic Endorsement for Two SDUSD board Democrats

SDUSD trustees Katherine Nakamura and John DeBeck





I don't want the Democratic Party to always dance to the tune of the California Teachers Association. Education is too important to allow any one part of the system to be in total control. It should be possible for an independent thinker to be a Democratic nominee as long as he or she is dedicated to making education better.

No Automatic Endorsement for Two School Dems
January 27, 2010
Voice of San Diego

Local Democrats held back on automatically endorsing two sitting Democrat school board members for reelection last night and will instead make John de Beck and Katherine Nakamura make their case for the party nod. Members called it rare: Incumbents are usually guaranteed their party endorsement.

The San Diego Democratic Party could still endorse de Beck and Nakamura for re-election this fall, but the two will have to persuade them to do it. Holding back is a sign that the Democrats aren't totally convinced that the two sitting members, who have split with rest of the San Diego Unified school board on touchy issues like a labor pact for school construction, are voting far enough to the left. The rest of the all-Democrat board was elected a year and a half ago and enjoyed strong support from the teachers union, something that de Beck and Nakamura haven't always had.

Both of the incumbents have possible Democratic challengers: Nakamura is facing off with Kevin Beiser, a Sweetwater middle school teacher, and business owner Stephen Rosen. De Beck is competing against Patrick McFarland, a San Diego State student interested in the seat.

The Democrats are expected to make their decision in April. These will be interesting races to watch. The school board may be a nonpartisan election, but that hardly means it isn't political.

-- EMILY ALPERT