Schools Beset with Problems -- Now What?

Community leaders call a top-to-bottom report on San Diego Unified worrisome, but their next steps are unclear.

» By EMILY ALPERT | Nov 3

Art Supplies: $20. Soccer Uniform: $25. Cost of Public Education? Supposedly Free

Schools are reconsidering whether San Diego Unified has overstepped the legal line when asking parents to cover costs for uniforms and class supplies.

» By EMILY ALPERT | Oct 22

A Calculus Class So Crazy, It Just Might Work

Seventy-odd kids at one of the toughest schools in San Diego Unified are crowding into one of the hardest classes around. And it looks like it's working.

» By EMILY ALPERT | Nov 11

My Day as Principal

A reporter spends a morning shadowing the man at the helm of Bell Middle School, learns how difficult it is to get children to keep their shirts tucked in -- and hopes to make a decision or two.

» By EMILY ALPERT | Nov 9

More Education News

• Blowing Up Homeroom
• How a Controversial Rule Played Out in Other Schools
• When Wife Advises, Husband’s Firm Almost Always Picked
• The Brief, Rocky Life of a Star School
• Less Money, Same Problems

For Discussion

From Letters: More in Favor of Decentralizing the Schools

San Diego Unified teacher approves of decentralizing over spending more on tests, units and mettings that are not working.