San Diego Superintendent Alan Bersin & No Child Left Behind

Eduwonk:

Haven't yet had your fill of political shenanigans in California? Then keep an eye on San Diego where one of the nation's longest serving urban superintendents is facing political trouble. National implications as this episode shows what can happen when push comes to shove on NCLB.

Superintendent Alan Bersin is poised to reorganize several of the city's chronically underperforming schools. At two of the three schools a majority of teachers have voted to make the schools charter schools to help facilitate this and at all three 60-80 percent of parents voted to do the same. Remember, these are not schools that didn't do well "on a single test" but schools that have not done right by students for years.

Yet the school board member who represents these schools has apparently decided to oppose this and in the process force a vote on buying out the remainder of Bersin's contract because he won't play ball. Possible reasons for her move? (A) It's a great way for her to make a lifelong friend of the Bersin-loathing teachers' union there. Or (B) concerns that if several schools in her district become semi-autonomous it will hurt her political clout and power on the board. There is no (C) because it's generally agreed that changes are in the interest of the kids....600 parents showed up at a recent school board meeting to push for these changes.

So the pressure is on Bersin to ignore the chronic problems for children at these schools and go against the wishes of a majority of parents and in two cases teachers or see one more (possibly decisive) board vote slip into the union's column.

Board meeting on Tuesday. Could be the second time in a month the establishment does in a Democratic education reformer in California.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 23, 2005 9:26 AM
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