by Richard J. Riehl on May 31, 2012
No Child Left Behind and the rise of charter schools have been the primary drivers of school reform in the last decade. But while NCLB promised school accountability, it got it by labeling students and schools successes or failures based on test scores alone. It failed the promise implied by its title, to close the learning gap separating students by income and ethnicity.
California’s charter schools, on the other hand, freed of state bureaucracy and teachers unions, were meant to help left-behind students bloom by using innovative methods traditional schools could adopt. But with a few exceptions, North County charters have served mostly as havens for families not quite wealthy enough to afford private schools. Home schooling is a feature of the largest of them, a popular choice for those who’ve lost faith in traditional schools. Low income and single-parent families are left behind when parents are required to take the place of trained professionals.
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by Richard J. Riehl on May 17, 2012
Americans have loved the underdog ever since a ragtag bunch of patriots whipped a king’s army. But a darker side of our history reveals how often we label individuals who don’t fit the norm; creating the very obstacles to success we praise them for overcoming.
Newspaper opinionators can do a lot to expose the damage done by stereotyping. That’s why it was disappointing to read local columnist Thomas Arnold’s take on Carlsbad Village Academy students, (“Decision jeopardizes student safety,” May 2).
Budget cuts have forced the closure of the CVA campus next year, requiring its students to move to Carlsbad High. That spurred Arnold to suggest CHS student safety will be at risk from those who “couldn’t cut it in regular school because they got pregnant, were expelled, or have behavioral problems.”
After quoting a Carlsbad High student who’s afraid his new classmates might establish a “turf” and “start fights,” Arnold concludes, “I’d be every bit as alarmed as this 10th grader is.”
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by Richard J. Riehl on April 19, 2012
You can tell from his most recent mailer that Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad, hates his job. He complains about having to work year-round in Sacramento, with little time to ask local voters what they want him to do there. Forced to accept an overblown salary while working full-time on issues that “are not priorities for the hard-working people of this state,” he can’t take a second job in the real world.
So what’s an unhappy State Assembly member to do? Survey his constituents, of course, to see if they agree he and his colleagues are overpaid, out of touch and underemployed.
Mindful of how busy we all are, Garrick boils his survey down to four simple, yes, or no questions and one “positive” or “negative” opinion. If you answer yes to the first question, lawmakers should have full-time careers and be part-time politicians, the next three are easy. Yes, you want a part-time legislature, yes, the legislature passes too many bills, and yes your representative is grossly overpaid. If you think “no” answers are acceptable, check out the answer sheet included or just Google “Congress: job ratings.” [click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on April 5, 2012
Last week Carlsbad’s city council approved an amended employment agreement with City Manager Lisa Hildabrand, effective January 1, 2012, listing her new salary at $230,000.
Communications Director Kristina Ray told me Hildabrand’s $13,000 pay hike, which became effective November 28, was based on her 2008 contract.
You could hear the buzzing of angry city worker bees in Carlsbad and Escondido when they learned their bosses were getting huge salary increases while their own pay remained frozen. Adding insult to injury, some of Carlsbad’s lowest paid workers are facing cuts in take-home pay because of an increase in what they’re required to pay into the state’s retirement system.
The salary of Carlsbad’s city manager is linked to the second highest paid city manager in the county, excluding the city of San Diego. Annual increases are limited to the rise in California’s Consumer Price Index. But additional “salary adjustments” are allowed if the price of city managers is driven up by pay increases in other cities. [click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on March 22, 2012
Carlsbad school officials are getting lots of advice lately about how to save money without hurting students. But it amounts mostly to blaming the victims of a budget crisis they didn’t create: the teachers union for selfishness and protecting bad teachers from layoffs, administrators for wasting money on frills.
Those who think unions are “wicked,” the word used by one community columnist, often praise teachers for their good work as individuals. But when they organize to improve their profession, they’re accused of putting their own interests ahead of kids. Using that logic, you might say the same about parents who follow flight attendant instructions to put on their own oxygen masks before helping their kids with theirs.
Teachers face obstacles to their effectiveness when they work in overcrowded classrooms, have to buy their own teaching materials, and are given little time to collaborate on lesson plans. Union efforts to reduce those obstacles are truly in the best interests of students.
Common sense might suggest a “keep the best and fire the rest” layoff policy. But in this case common sense doesn’t make good sense.
Here’s why. The best and worst teachers often stand out. But it’s much harder to rank those who fall in between. Evaluating teachers on test scores alone ignores learning that can’t be measured by multiple choice. Congeniality and budget savings could become the primary criteria if administrators alone make the call. Most would agree that popularity isn’t the best measure of teaching excellence. [click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on March 8, 2012
It took a federal court ruling and a $28 billion budget deficit for California to finally do something about its obsolete prison system. San Diego County’s Chief Probation Officer, Mack Jenkins, told the Carlsbad City Council last month that implementing AB 109, the Public Safety Realignment Act will be “the most significant change in California’s correctional system in at least 30 years.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last May that conditions caused by crowding 167,000 inmates into buildings built for 90,000 were in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Now it’s a question of how to reduce the prison population while protecting the public and reducing the deficit. San Diego County’s community corrections plan is on track to do all three.
Contrary to a wealth of misinformation, no state prison inmates are being transferred to local jails. Those who’ve served their sentences, are at low risk for re-offending, and are eligible for parole are being assigned to local probation officers who will engage in far more proactive follow up than the state parole system. Jenkins said it will include both announced and unannounced visits and more careful tracking.
Only four of the 1,000 parolees shifted to San Diego County to this date reside in Carlsbad. Vista has 61, Escondido 55, and Oceanside 41. Carlsbad Police Chief Gary Morrison reported there’s been no increase in the city’s crime rate. [click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on February 9, 2012
Wouldn’t it be nice if grocery stores and gas stations would sign pledges to stop taxing us with higher prices until they cut their business expenses an equal amount? They could protect their profits by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in their operations. We customers could help them find the waste to prove they don’t have a revenue problem, they have a spending problem.
Sound familiar? That’s the thinking behind a local political activist group that’s asking state office holders and candidates to sign its Promise to California Taxpayers pledge. Signers must promise to vote against all tax increases, amendments to Proposition 13 and increased taxpayer contributions to public employee pension plans.
I was disappointed to learn that Carlsbad City Council member and candidate for the 76th District seat in the California Assembly, Farrah Douglas, was one of the first five signers.
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by Richard J. Riehl on January 12, 2012
As they plan for next year’s budget cuts, Carlsbad school officials are confronted with options reminiscent of Hobson’s and Sophie’s choices. Thomas Hobson was the 16th Century English livery stable owner who advertised the availability of 40 horses but restricted choice to the one nearest the stable door—a take it or leave it option. Sophie Zawistowski was the mother in William Styron’s novel who is forced to choose which of her two children to save from being put to death by the Nazis.
Closing schools because of budget cuts embodies the same kind of no-win solutions.
Preparing for an expected $8 million budget shortfall next year, school officials are considering the closure of two schools that are substantially more costly to operate per pupil than other district schools because of their low enrollments. Abandoning Buena Vista Elementary and Carlsbad Village Academy would save the district an estimated $1 million. [click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on October 24, 2011
On Saturday I had an attack of déjà vu in downtown San Diego that made we wonder if Occupy Wall Street could ever come to our sleepy little Village By The Sea. Let me explain.
My wife and I had to wade through an Occupy San Diego encampment in front of the Civic Theatre, where we were headed to see the revival of the 60’s rock musical, HAIR. Karen was more excited about seeing the show than I was. Although we both have vivid memories of those psychedelic days, hers are more pleasant than mine.
She found her inner flower child in the late 60’s, leaving a stuck-in-the-50’s husband who preferred the kind of obedient wife we see today only in the popular retro TV series Mad Men. I was a high school English teacher affecting a Bono look, no not that Bono, the Sonny one who harmonized with Cher. Sporting fashionably long hair and a slightly droopy mustache, I wore paisley ties, a macramé belt and waffle-stomper boots. But my polyester sport coats gave me away. The only risk I took in the 60’s was standing too close to an open flame in that attire. I was a hippie wannabe. [click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on August 25, 2011
The August edition of Carlsbad Currents, the city’s bi-monthly publication mailed to city residents, carries the headline, “Carlsbad maintains good financial health.” The story boasts of a budget balanced by reducing the size of the city’s workforce and operating more efficiently. The city’s 2011-12 budget report explains the workforce was cut back by eliminating 10 currently vacant positions, including a fire marshal, a graphic artist, a building inspector and two custodians.
We learn from the newsletter that sales and hotel taxes are expected to grow, while property tax is projected to decrease slightly. Finance Director Chuck McBride assures us that investment in the city created by new hotel, retail and commercial projects puts the city “in a good position to capitalize on opportunities as the economy recovers.” It appears happy times are here again.
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The Riehl World: Time For Hybrid Model Schools?
by Richard J. Riehl on May 31, 2012
California’s charter schools, on the other hand, freed of state bureaucracy and teachers unions, were meant to help left-behind students bloom by using innovative methods traditional schools could adopt. But with a few exceptions, North County charters have served mostly as havens for families not quite wealthy enough to afford private schools. Home schooling is a feature of the largest of them, a popular choice for those who’ve lost faith in traditional schools. Low income and single-parent families are left behind when parents are required to take the place of trained professionals.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story. [click to continue…]
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