Most school districts in San Diego county are projecting deficit spending for three years in a row, according to letters sent to districts last week by the SDCOE. Five San Diego County school districts have told the county they may not be able to fix their deficits — or meet their financial obligations — over…
Monthly Archives: February 2019
Special education enrollment has surged in the last decade, with more than 96,000 students pouring into school districts across the state, according to data from CDE. One of the drivers has been a marked increase in students with autism and other behavioral delays, a Bee analysis shows. At the same time, the number of students with…
Protests in LA and Colorado follow many others around the country. Last February, roughly 20,000 teachers in all of West Virginia’s 55 counties walked out. A month or so later, teachers in Oklahoma boycotted their classrooms; Kentucky’s educators staged their own strike that same day in early April, as did their counterparts in Arizona a…
Gun violence in schools ranked CA’s top education issue
February 14, 2019
Results from a new poll show CA voters view reducing gun violence in schools as the top educational issue facing the state, though there was less agreement on how lawmakers should address the issue. The poll, conducted by the University of Southern California in collaboration with the Policy Analysis for CA Education, found reducing gun…
Just a little over a month into 2019, already about a dozen cybersecurity incidents have struck U.S. school districts. And if the past is any indication, more are likely to come. A U.S. school district becomes the victim of a cyberattack almost as often as every three days, according to a report released recently. Last…
Renewing an issue that has virtually disappeared from his policy agenda, President Donald Trump called on Congress in his State of the Union speech to approve “school choice” legislation — without providing any details about what he has in mind. His comments came against the backdrop of a clamor in several CA school districts and…
LAO warns economic winter may be coming
February 14, 2019
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst warned Wednesday that lawmakers should prepare for lower revenue projections later this spring as a result of changes on both Main Street and Wall Street. In its annual assessment of the governor’s proposed 2019-20 spending plan for K-12 schools and community colleges in advance of budget negotiations, the LAO said legislative…
Opinion by Dan Walters- School districts set poor example for students
February 14, 2019
By Dan Walters There’s bitter irony in the loud complaints from CA school officials and unions – particularly in large urban districts – about not having enough money. Schools are supposed to be teaching our children how to become productive and responsible adults, but by overspending revenues, blaming others for their fiscal problems and demanding…
Cliff notes for new students of CA’s byzantine school system
February 14, 2019
Last month, a new two-year legislative session began in earnest, which means a lot of new faces on key policy and fiscal committees, and even some in leadership positions. To help ease the transition—at least as far as education goes—the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst has issued a new guide to the state’s sprawling and dynamic school…
The L.A. Unified school board has approved a contract with its teacher union that officials admit they can’t fully afford, calling the deal’s sustainability into question as the district receives repeated warnings from the county that it’s in severe financial straits. To shoulder about $840 million in added costs through 2021, district officials say they’re…