San Diego Educational System Changing

From what I’ve read already, this is going to be a good change and will hopefully increase the quality of education our young San Diegans get.

Via EMILY ALPERT at Voice of San Diego:

Education Week takes a big picture look at how the new reform plans in San Diego Unified differ from the controversial changes under former Superintendent Alan Bersin — and how those reforms fared in a recent study.

The weekly takes San Diego as an example to be learned from for reformers across the country. Here’s a quote from one expert it used in the story:

"One way to read the San Diego experience is, reforms that don’t have a local constituency and are not supported by local advocates and efforts are not likely to stick," said Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies for the American Enterprise Institute think tank. "In many ways, Bersin was a test case for how much you can force a school district to change. That’s just an enormous cautionary note when we hear [U.S. Secretary of Education Arne] Duncan talk about how we’re going to drive reform and what these superintendents are going to be able to accomplish."

Want more? Here’s our latest piece on the new reforms and what they could mean for schools. And don’t forget our blog post on a new study of the Bersin reforms.

Science Project Mistaken for Bomb by Dumb Principal

Boom!

What is wrong with people these days? Especially principals!

Via Fox News:

SAN DIEGO — Authorities say a San Diego middle school was evacuated when a student’s science project was mistaken for a bomb.

A Fire-Rescue spokesman says a concerned vice principal prompted the evacuation of Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School yesterday afternoon.

He says an arson team took photos and X-rays of the empty plastic bottle with wires and determined it was harmless.

He says the 11-year-old was trying to build a motion detector with instructions he found on the Internet and parts he bought online. His parents helped him buy the parts. They say they didn’t realize the experiment looked threatening.

Obama’s Speech

The “controversial” education speech that Barack Obama is going to give to students tomorrow has been released. You can read it here. Guess what… it’s not controversial. At all. Like… nothing at all could be disputed. Silly Republicans. Look at the Drudge Report right now:

What a joke...

Jesus… how pathetic. If you’re not familiar with the Drudge Report you might think he is just reporting something that is in the speech. NOPE. If you have followed his “news” site at all, you’ll know that he is making fun of Obama. This is state of the Republican party. They have resorted to attacking Obama for telling kids to wash their hands. They might want to read this: Why Is Hand Washing So Important?