Education

Thumbnail image for School Board Okays Controversial Sale of Prime Mission Beach School Property – Despite Mayor Filner’s Plea

School Board Okays Controversial Sale of Prime Mission Beach School Property – Despite Mayor Filner’s Plea

by Frank Gormlie 05.16.2013 Economy

By Frank Gormlie/ OB Rag

On Tuesday, May 14th, the San Diego Unified School District board authorized the sale of the former Mission Beach Elementary School property to private developers – despite objections by Mayor Filner, residents and community activists.

The 4 to 1 vote by the Board was the culmination of the process to cement the controversial sale of 2.23 acres of prime public school land, a half block from the Pacific Ocean and mere yards from Mission Bay. Mayor Filner, community planners and civic activists, as well as residents pleaded with the Board to keep the land in the public arena, and work with either the City or developers on alternatives.

The site was sold for $18.5 million to a duo of developers, doing business as McKellar-Ashbrook LLC, registered in La Jolla.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Special Ed Student Used as “Bait” in School Drug Bust After Parents Refused Permission

The Starting Line – Special Ed Student Used as “Bait” in School Drug Bust After Parents Refused Permission

by Doug Porter 05.09.2013 Columns

By Doug Porter

We’ve seen an up tick in stories recently about drug busts in schools in the region.  While no parent wants to see their kid on the wrong side of the law, it turns out that at least one of these ‘stings’ wasn’t quite the law enforcement coup touted to the news media.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department’s ‘Operation A Team’ spent a year posing as students at four county high schools, scoring drugs at Poway, Mission Hills, and Ramona High Schools. The busts were announced with much fanfare recently, and the UT-San Diego even garnered an undercover interview with one of the agents.

Last fall undercover officers enrolled at Temecula high schools rounded up 22 ruffians in a similar investigation.

Yesterday the Press-Enterprise ran a story regarding a special education student recruited by a Temecula school official over the objections of his parents to pose as ‘bait’ in an on-campus sting. And it turns out this isn’t the only case involving a special education student and drug stings in the Temecula Valley Unified School District.

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Thumbnail image for Free Barrier-Breaking College Prep Program in Barrio Logan to Expand

Free Barrier-Breaking College Prep Program in Barrio Logan to Expand

by Source 05.09.2013 Activism

The Barrio Logan College Institute Moves in with Monarch School

By Frances O’Neill Zimmerman

From late afternoon to early evening daily, a bilingual team of eight devoted staffers works throughout the week with 200 committed barrio kids — some as young as Grade 3 — establishing curriculum, coordinating tutors, arranging for in-house speakers and field trips, setting up collaborative learning experiences, conferring with parents, interfacing with students whose names and histories they know well.

This is Barrio Logan College Institute (BLCI) where students absorb what an old teacher friend of mine used to call “the culture of school.” Learning how to study. How to shake hands in greeting and goodbye, with an abrazo here and there. Tutorials in language arts and math. Goal-setting. Learning about self-organization, follow-through, discipline, promptness. How to be resilient when there’s disappointment.

BLCI students will be the first in their families to go to university, knowing they are following patterns set by these mentors on the staff. Development director Luis Murillo, 30, has for now set aside an earlier interest in law school, saying, “I love what we do here.”

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Thumbnail image for Is College Really Worth It?

Is College Really Worth It?

by John Lawrence 05.09.2013 Education

Many PhDs Can’t Find Jobs

By John Lawrence

Former Secretary of Education, William Bennett, has written a book, Is College Worth It?  Evidently even education experts are starting to question the value of obtaining a college education especially if it means taking on a mountain of debt, and there is no guarantee that once graduated there will even be a job there waiting so that payments on that debt can even begin.

If not, the college graduate faces delinquency, default and penalties that can add greatly to the original debt making it all but insurmountable and one that will follow the individual for the rest of his or her life.

There seems to be a myth that a college education is part of the American dream and that not having acquired one makes one a loser. However, consider this. Some of the greatest contributors to society and some of the richest people never graduated from college.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Dougie Manchester’s Minions Twerking the Night Away

The Starting Line – Dougie Manchester’s Minions Twerking the Night Away

by Doug Porter 05.07.2013 Columns

By Doug Porter

‘What the hell?’ you’re probably thinking, how did he come up with that headline?

 I was just reading the UT-San Diego’s editorial page today, something not recommended for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

Leading the inane parade of profoundly partisan digestational by-products today is another in this week’s ObamaScare is coming missives.  We’re being schooled this week on “the broken promises that President Barack Obama used to sell the Affordable Care Act”.

Did you know that the President and his liberal/socialist cabal are going to take away your health insurance right after they grab your guns? It must be true; look what happened in Massachusetts when essentially the same plan was enacted…

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – The National NRA Convention: No Sane People Allowed

The Starting Line – The National NRA Convention: No Sane People Allowed

by Doug Porter 05.03.2013 Columns

Going Great Guns, Deep in the Heart of Texas

By Doug Porter

Stories about pushback resulting from votes against the Senate’s most recent efforts at gun legislation are making the rounds this week, including poll results showing voter frustration with elected officials who opposed background checks.

This weekend, however, the media landscape will shift as the National Rifle Association holds a three day gathering in Houston, Texas.  Today’s ‘leadership forum’ will boast conservative heart-throbs like former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum.

INSIDE: Is Obama the Worst Socialist Ever?, Ethiopian Blogger Imprisoned, Where Have All the Teachers Gone?

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Hell Froze Over: UT-San Diego Endorsed Labor Leader Lorena Gonzalez

The Starting Line – Hell Froze Over: UT-San Diego Endorsed Labor Leader Lorena Gonzalez

by Doug Porter 04.30.2013 Business

By Doug Porter 

I checked the calendar to make sure it wasn’t April Fools Day this morning after reading an editorial in UT-San Diego endorsing Lorena Gonzalez in the race for the 80th District Assembly seat.

There are, after all, only two Democrats, officially in the race and I fully expected the paper would pass up the opportunity to say anything encouraging about either of them. (There is, I’m told, also a write-in campaign by a Republican.)

Their endorsement was apparently triggered by Gonzalez’s positions on ‘job creation’.  Rather than play into the conservative meme that ‘jobs’ and ‘the environment’ are mutually exclusive propositions, she told them during an extensive interview that policies  respecting both are possible.

As much as I hate to do this, I’m going to agree with the UT-San Diego’s choice of candidates in this race, although for different reasons.  Lorena Gonzalez has done a terrific job of actually ‘leading’ labor in this town into areas way outside their traditional comfort zone.

I don’t know how the UT-SD missed this, but her efforts to get out the vote and involvement with grassroots organizing outside the walls of the Labor Council offices are a major reason why Democrats are an ascendant force in this town.

If she was smart enough to fool them, just think how good she’ll be with those dumbasses up in Sacramento.

INSIDE: Fighting Test to the Test, Junior Seau’s Brain, and the GOP’s Rube Goldberg Immigration plan.

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Thumbnail image for Desde la Logan’s Las Monthly Ondas May Edition: Cinco de Mayo is Not Mexican Independence Day

Desde la Logan’s Las Monthly Ondas May Edition: Cinco de Mayo is Not Mexican Independence Day

by Brent E. Beltrán 04.30.2013 Arts

By Brent E. Beltrán

Cinco de Mayo commemorates El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (The Day of the Battle of Puebla) where in 1862 a ragtag Mexican army lead by General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a much superior and better equipped force of the French army. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. It’s not even a significant holiday in Mexico except in the state of Puebla where the battle took place.

After the great liberal Mexican president Benito Juarez decided to stop paying Mexico’s foreign debt for two years to help it’s near bankrupt national treasury France’s Napoleon III, pissed off by this move, decided to invade and build up it’s empire.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – California Education Issues Come Front and Center

The Starting Line – California Education Issues Come Front and Center

by Doug Porter 04.25.2013 Columns

By Doug Porter

There’s a lull between big electoral periods right now (except for Los Angeles) and, fortunately this means there’s space available for bytes or ink with articles discussing education without the overlay of various campaigns.

The Big Issue in education since the “A Nation at Risk” study released during the Reagan administration has been reform. The changing needs of the nation’s workplaces, spurred by the revolution in technology, ran smack dab into the rising credo that argued for a smaller role for the public sector.

The word ‘reform’ has become tainted, laden with expectations or fears that private enterprise would alter the educational landscape. Three decades of interventions (and, yes, the ‘reformers’ have had many opportunities to try out their ideas) have left us only incrementally better off than we were when this entire hubbub started.

Along the way, programs not central to the theology of ‘teach to the test’ have been downgraded or discarded. Playing clarinet will not enhance your abilities to fill in bubbles on test sheets.  And earlier attempts at ‘scientifically’ updating instructional methods were conveniently forgotten. (Anybody remember the ‘New Math’?)

So it’s interesting that so many angles on the quest for a better education are in the news this week.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Koch Brothers’ Coachella Failure-fest Set for this Weekend

The Starting Line – Koch Brothers’ Coachella Failure-fest Set for this Weekend

by Doug Porter 04.23.2013 Arts

By Doug Porter

This weekend (Apr 28-29) hundreds of business executives and wealthy conservative donors will descend upon the Coachella Valley, hoping to forge a strategy to turn last fall’s drubbing of conservative candidates into future victories. I imagine the crowd will be considerably different from what locals have seen over the past two weeks.

Since 2003 billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch have been hosting regular retreats at luxury resorts seeking to focus the resources and energy of wealthy and politically ambitious conservatives in the US.

Their latest invitation-only gathering, originally scheduled for January, was postponed.

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Thumbnail image for Corporate Education Reform Goes to College Despite Flunking Out in the K-12 System

Corporate Education Reform Goes to College Despite Flunking Out in the K-12 System

by Jim Miller 04.22.2013 Columns

By Jim Miller

Things haven’t been going too well for the corporate education reform forces lately.  In Chicago there is great controversy surrounding and parent resistance to school closings as a result of the efforts of over zealous reformers. This shameful turn of events puts yet another black mark on former Obama Administration chief of staff and current Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s heavy-handed reign of error over his city’s schools.

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Thumbnail image for No More Hurting People – Peace

No More Hurting People – Peace

by Ernie McCray 04.18.2013 Education

by Ernie McCray

Everyone, perhaps, has now seen the picture of Martin Richards, the 8 year old boy who lost his life in Boston, holding a sign that says “No more hurting people – Peace.” Oh, if we, as a society, could live in such a caring way.

And these sentiments, expressed by Mr. Rogers, of children’s television fame, have gone viral in cyberspace: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

How true, and I see Martin, even though he has been taken away from us, as one of the “helpers” of the world that Mr. Rogers has painted in our minds as he is already helping me to carry on after the madness at the Boston Marathon.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Republicans Reject ‘Civil Rights Issue of Our Time’, Affirm Anti-Gay Marriage Stance

The Starting Line – Republicans Reject ‘Civil Rights Issue of Our Time’, Affirm Anti-Gay Marriage Stance

by Doug Porter 04.12.2013 Activism

By Doug Porter

At least nobody’s been arrested with hookers yet.

That’s the good news coming out of the national GOP quarterly confab going on in Hollywood, Taxifornia this weekend.

The bad news is that it appears as though the Party faithful are going to reaffirm the party’s official position that marriage should be solely between one man and one woman.

It is expected to pass overwhelmingly, proving that evangelicals and social conservatives are still a force to be reckoned with, despite pleas from establishment leaders to focus on party mechanics and stay away from social issues likely to generate negative impressions for the party.

INSIDE: More GOP #Fail, UT-SD Gets National Shout Out, Rhee Gets Unwanted Exposure, GITMO Hunger Strike, Anti-Exxon Video

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Thumbnail image for Sex in San Diego: 10 Interesting Facts About Breasts

Sex in San Diego: 10 Interesting Facts About Breasts

by Source 04.10.2013 Education

For all their popularity, what do we really know about them?

By Liz Langley / Alternet

“Boobies, boobies, boobies. Nothin’ but boobies. Who needs ‘em? I did great without ‘em.”

So Neely O’Hara famously said in Valley of the Dolls while eyeballing strip joints.
If she could see how much more tit-smitten pop culture has become in the last half-century she’d probably need to do another shot, though frankly, if the Venus de Willendorf is any indication, humans have been boob-centric for as long as 25,000 years.

And why not? Breasts enhance the lives of owners and visitors, and you can’t say that any other body part produces food. Still, for all the times you’ve ogled them, snuggled them or ensconced them in a bra that cost more than your Internet bill, what do you really know about breasts?

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Thumbnail image for Keys to the Kingdom: Using San Diego’s Open Government Web Site

Keys to the Kingdom: Using San Diego’s Open Government Web Site

by Source 04.09.2013 Education

By Norma Damashek

For the first time ever, the San Diego public has been awarded the Keys to the Kingdom.

The grantor of this unique gift to the people of San Diego is former councilmember Donna Frye and her Open Government project, developed during her three-month stint in the office of Mayor Bob Filner.

Finally, regular citizens and ordinary folk (you and I) have ready access to just about everything we wish to know about the ins-and-outs of City Hall. Come on inside to see how it works.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Mission Valley Hilton Hotel Management Tactics Prompt Employee Hunger Strike

The Starting Line – Mission Valley Hilton Hotel Management Tactics Prompt Employee Hunger Strike

by Doug Porter 04.05.2013 Columns

Employees and the community supporters at the Mission Valley Hilton will be engaging in a five day hunger strike starting today in protest of a decision by the property’s new management company to dismiss nine long term hotel workers.

Following weeks of protests, including a sit-in where 20 people were arrested, employees at the Mission Valley Hilton Hotel were elated last month after hearing that their jobs would not be eliminated as part of a takeover of the property by Evolution Hospitality/ Tarsadia Hotels.

What they didn’t know is that the new managers would subject all the employees to immediate E-Verify background checks. Nine long term workers are now facing dismissal as soon as next Tuesday. Those employees believe they are being targeted for standing up for their rights as immigrant workers.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Student Achievement Test Scores Are a Failed Metric

The Starting Line – Student Achievement Test Scores Are a Failed Metric

by Doug Porter 04.03.2013 Columns

 A discussion on Twitter with Voice of San Diego’s CEO Scott Lewis yesterday prompted me to dig deeper into the whole question of how and when we use student achievement tests today.

This all started with my critical (and cynical) take on a story published by VOSD about superintendent-designee Cindy Marten. The account led with (and makes much of) test data showing other elementary schools had better rates of improvement on test scores than Central Elementary, where she has reigned as principal over the last few years.

I erroneously assumed in closing yesterday’s column (by saying ‘that dog won’t hunt anymore’) that the realization of just how flawed and failed the use of test scores as a primary measure of educational progress was by now widely evident. I was wr…wr…wrr…wrong. Smart people still haven’t gotten the message.

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Controlling the Narrative: San Diego ‘News’ Stories That Get Stood on Their Head

The Starting Line – Controlling the Narrative: San Diego ‘News’ Stories That Get Stood on Their Head

by Doug Porter 04.02.2013 Columns

Sometimes it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

Let’s start with the California Coastal Commission story in today’s UT-San Diego.

San Diego Assemblywomen Toni Atkins is sponsoring a bill that moved out of committee yesterday giving the California Coastal Commission the authority to directly fine law breakers.

Paragraphs three and four of the UT-SD story tell us first about the reaction against the proposed legislation:

Her Assembly Bill 976 has drawn sharp rebukes from business interests, many of whom already regard the Coastal Commission as too arbitrary when it comes to issuing permits for development along California’s 1,100 miles of coast.

The legislation “creates a bounty hunter mentality among Coastal Commission staff (and) would strip alleged violators of due process afforded by the courts,” states a letter signed by various associations representing the housing, oil, aquaculture and agricultural industries.

Gosh, that sounds pretty bad, huh?

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Thumbnail image for The Starting Line – Score One for the Taxpayers; Hoteliers Reach Agreement with Mayor Filner

The Starting Line – Score One for the Taxpayers; Hoteliers Reach Agreement with Mayor Filner

by Doug Porter 03.29.2013 Columns

Oh, the sweet, sweet irony. Mayor Bob Filner’s refusal to sign off on an operating agreement for the San Diego Tourism Marketing District has led to a firestorm of criticism over the past two months. He’s been vilified at the UT-San Diego, which just this week ran an editorial cartoon depicting the Mayor as The Joker, a villain from the Batman comic/TV/Movie series.

Letters to editor have claimed Filner hates the tourism industry, that he’s purposely tried to cause job loss and even demanded a recall election.

Yesterday, after much posturing and pressure, the City Council endorsed an agreement that protected San Diego taxpayers, created more transparency and encouraged funding for the Balboa Park Exposition Centennial. It wasn’t everything Filner asked for, but his point was made. Business as it used to be conducted downtown will be operating under a different set of rules during his administration.

Credit goes to City Councilman David Alvarez, whose intervention led to the settlement. The “Joker” just saved San Diego taxpayers $30 million should the TMD scheme be ruled illegal.

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Thumbnail image for A Walking Tour of Coronado That Doesn’t Include the Hotel Del?

A Walking Tour of Coronado That Doesn’t Include the Hotel Del?

by Judi Curry 03.23.2013 Business

A few weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a member of one of my support groups telling me of a tour called “SoCal Food Tour.” She wondered if it would be something that I would be interested in, as well as other members of our group. Although not knowing much about it, I thought it might be fun and told her to sign me up.

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