Private Foundations and Public Schools

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

Carl Cohn is playing out as the good cop to former 
thug/superintendent bad cop Alan Bersin.

While involving district employees in discussions about how to best 
oppress themselves, the iron fist behind his regime, like all of 
them, remains the militarization of schooling, highstakes exams 
(teaching lies to kids using methods so obscure that kids learn to 
not like to learn), and inequality. Here we have a note from the 
Voice of San Diego, someone taking partial notice.




<http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/07/25/this_just_in/243foundations072407.txt>Private 
Foundations, Public Education




<http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/multimedia/blogemail.php?email=/articles/2007/07/25/this_just_in/243foundations072407.txt>
[]

<http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/multimedia/blogemail.php?email=/articles/2007/07/25/this_just_in/243foundations072407.txt>

 E-MAIL POST


In February, I 
<http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/03/05/education/992delmarschools022807.txt>reported 
on the controversy involving Del Mar's elementary schools, which were 
receiving a significant amount in donations through a private 
foundation created to coordinate the giving.

At the time, the work of the foundation turned into a political 
debate after some parents questioned whether their kids were getting 
less out of their public education because their schools raised fewer 
private dollars.

Here is a paragraph from the story:

How the city's elementary school district decides to balance parent 
concerns about equity with the reality that tax dollars cannot keep 
up with the needs of public education could provide an early glimpse 
at the issues schools in San Diego are beginning to face as nonprofit 
educational foundations quickly emerge as permanent fixtures in 
public education. The debate will also prove timely for the San Diego 
Unified School District, whose superintendent Carl Cohn has made the 
establishment of school foundations one of the priorities of his 
administration.



The same issue is now emerging at San Diego's public school system. 
Private foundations formed to support some of San Diego Unified's 
wealthier schools have paid to install artificial turf at the 
campuses, and poorer schools have asked the district to do the same for them.

The issue has caught the attention of school board member Katherine Nakamura.

"It's becoming an equity issue," she said at a meeting Tuesday.

Nakamura has suggested that the board consider including artificial 
turf as part of its upcoming 
<http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/07/24/this_just_in/244newtaxes072407.txt>2008 
bond measure, though the district has identified a total of $3.7 
billion in construction needs, only a part of which would likely be 
covered by a bond.



-- <mailto:vladimir.kogan@voiceofsandiego.org>VLADIMIR KOGAN

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/this_just_in/#blurb2


Tuesday, July 24 -- 5:39 pm