A parent watchdog group is criticizing the San Diego Unified School District for spending tens of thousands of dollars including some coronavirus relief money on a federal lobbying firm.
In April, the school board hired The Raben Group of Washington, D.C., with a contract worth up to $150,000 to advocate for more school stimulus funding, advance the district’s interests among federal lawmakers and raise the district’s “profile as a leader,” according to the contract.
On Jan. 26, the board unanimously approved another contract with Raben for up to $180,000 for this year.
The district says its investment in federal lobbying has been fruitful, helping to secure tens of millions of dollars in additional coronavirus relief money that will be used to help students.
High school sports could find their way back to fields, diamonds and courts across California. “It’s really about every kid that plays every sport in California now,” said Ron Gladnick, one of the voices behind the Let Them Play movement. Gladnick is also the head football coach at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego. “We believe we’re on.
“People are assigning us a lot more power and influence than we actually have, said Kisha Borden, the President of San Diego Education Association, the union representing teachers in the district.
Borden said the district creates the reopening plan and the union bargains on the impacts, and it just so happens both sides agree that it is not safe to reopen schools, especially now with the surge in cases and the new variant.
“The public is getting frustrated with the education system, even if they don’t want to go back to school and they like distance learning, it’s still hard,” Sorenson said parents could take out their frustration at the ballot box when voters are asked to pay more taxes for education.
On the campaign trail, Joe Biden pledged to open up Americaâs schools within 100 days. Just days into his presidency, however, weâre learning that teachers unions are calling the shots in this country. Despite increasing evidence about the safety of in-person instruction, the unions are keeping classrooms closed and harming our kids.
A study shows that transmission of COVID-19 in the classroom is quite rare. Likewise, a recent report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association encourages American schools to reopen.
But thatâs not enough to convince those in power that itâs time to get teachers back to the job of teaching in person.
January 29, 2021
President Joe Biden recently nominated San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Superintendent Cindy Marten to lead the U.S. Department of Education, but despite her title, the education administrator has a long history of mishandling education policy and misconduct.
Not only does Marten want to keep schools closed in the name of COVID, even though science and health officials have warned against extending students’ remote learning, but she also has spent years of her career and time writing off concerns about sexual assault, violence, and other problems in San Diego schools.
Marten first became superintendent of the large California school district in 2013. Shortly after assuming her new position, Marten established the district’s quality assurance office, a $1.68 million operation that was supposed to provide parents, students, and employees a place to file complaints and request investigations into misconduct such as sexual assault in the district.