By Megan Burks
‘Schools on the Brink’ Special to Air Next Week
Speak City Heights partner voiceofsandiego.org and NBC7 San Diego will air a weeklong special called “Schools on the Brink” starting Monday at 6 p.m. on NBC7. The series will trace the San Diego Unified School District’s financial troubles as it flirts with insolvency.
The week will culminate with a panel discussion at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 at the McMillan Event Center in Liberty Station.
Jackson Won’t Run for Reelection
But plenty of schools news broke ahead of next week’s special, starting with Shelia Jackson’s announcement that she will not run for reelection to the Board of Education. Jackson represents Crawford cluster schools. Voiceofsandiego.org introduced readers to her possible replacements Monday.
New State Revenue Projections Only Soften Blow to Schools
The Board of Education got a better idea Tuesday of how the state’s revenue shortfall could impact the district. The school board has been watching to see whether the state’s financial situation will lead to mid-year cuts to education.
Lawmakers allocated education dollars for this year based on an optimistic projection but warned dour revenue numbers could force cuts.
Speak City Heights partner KPBS reports the numbers aren’t as bad as they could be, but still pose a problem for schools.
District in Legal Tight Spot With Mid-Year Cuts
With a budget redux imminent, the school board is combing through its expenditures looking for savings. As voiceofsandiego.org reports, it will need a fine-toothed comb.
A tangle of rules—class sizes, labor contracts, budgets that can’t be budged—have district officials worried they won’t find enough legal cuts to balance the books.
School Board Rethinks Shifting Money to Poorest Schools
The board voted down a plan to shift more federal dollars to the district’s poorest schools at Tuesday’s meeting. The plan would have pulled money the district gets to help low-income students from some schools to give to those where at least 75 percent of students live in poverty. Several schools in City Heights would have benefited from the shift.
Currently, the money is spread across all schools where at least 40 percent of the kids are poor.
Study Reports Poor Schools Shortchanged
The school board might want to rethink its rethinking. A federal study suggests students at the nation’s poorest schools are already shortchanged systematically.
The study reports poor schools get less money to work with because their rookie teachers cost less. New teachers and their small salaries typically end up at low-income schools, meaning many of those schools get at least 10 percent less to spend on each student than average schools.
Voiceofsandiego’s Emily Alpert ran the numbers for San Diego schools. Spoiler alert: it happens here, too.
For all things education follow @emilyschoolsyou, @kylacalvert and @sdschools.
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For more, follow me @spkcityheights.