SDUSD Mess Update

Erica Holloway, blogging at sdrostra.com, has an update on the fiscal mess of our local San Diego school district. I posted on November 2 on the same subject. A few quotes from Erica's article:

School district officials and board members say that without a serious, life-saving infusion of state revenue or drastic cuts, such as closing schools, the state could take over the district due to fiscal insolvency, or bankruptcy.

After the utter failure of the school closure plan, Sheila Jackson, schoolboard member, takes full responsibility for the board's failure to put together a reasonable process.

It’s not appropriate for people to come to us and be upset. We didn’t even know what the criteria was, we didn’t even tell the staff which direction we wanted.

Good going there Sheila. In any other kind of electoral situation, she would be a shoo in for recall or at least wouldn't get re-elected. But in an electoral system plagued by general voter apathy towards the schools, the teachers unions are able to hand pick the board. VOSD had this to say about her statement.

But the board was highly involved in setting those criteria. The trustees had discussed and voted on the criteria at least three times in the previous two years

Last July, Jackson and her colleagues voted unanimously to approve a 37-page document that precisely lays out the process by which schools would be chosen for closure. The document includes a four-page board policy detailing all the criteria by which schools should be selected.

They also labeled Jackson's statement "huckster propaganda" with a picture of Pinocchio sporting a very long nose.