About 15 years ago, San Diego Unified set out on a mission to ensure there were quality schools in every neighborhood.
The initiative – known as Vision 2020 – sought to end achievement gaps and increase the percentage of students who attended district schools in their neighborhoods.
Our Jakob McWhinney checked the progress of the initiative.
The bottom line: While test scores are up, the racial achievement gap remains and district students aren’t any more likely to attend their neighborhood schools than they were in 2011.
That’s despite the billions of dollars poured into rebuilding schools, more rigorous graduation requirements and other changes meant to drive up enrollment in neighborhood schools.
20 Years of Impact: The Response Time Investigation that Forced Mayoral Candidates to Respond
San Diegans who live south of Interstate 8 have long bemoaned the city’s longstanding disinvestment in their communities.
In 2013, former Voice of San Diego reporter Liam Dillon was determined to bring to life a study that supported the conventional wisdom. It showed consistent emergency response time delays in southeastern San Diego.
After digging into data and knocking on doors, Dillon released a series of stories that pressured mayoral candidates to propose plans to fix the tragic inequity – and former Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who ultimately won that special election, to direct changes.
Our Lisa Halverstadt reviewed Dillon’s series and checked in with Fire-Rescue Department officials to see where the situation stands today.
South County Report: National City’s Budget Cliff
National City’s City Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. / Photo by Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego
Some National City residents cheered a crisis averted this week after the City Council soundly rejected a controversial biofuels rail depot this week but there’s another city crisis looming.
In this week’s South County Report, our Jim Hinch explains how employee raises, spending on new programs and a decision to dip into the city’s reserve account this year are putting National City’s financial situation on shaky ground.
Hinch reports that the city’s reserve funds are set to drop by more than half over the next year and Mayor Ron Morrison fears all of the city’s savings could be depleted in a few years.
Next on the agenda: Morrison and other councilmembers are mulling ways to raise more cash for the city.
Read the South County Report here.
City Housing Agency Pitches Voucher Rent Hikes to Keep Families Housed
The city’s housing agency is proposing to have thousands of San Diego families with Section 8 vouchers pay a larger share of their rent to prevent about 1,700 families from losing their rental assistance.
The Union-Tribune reports that some families who now direct 24 percent of their income to rent must contribute 40 percent under the proposal. Exact changes for each family – if approved by the housing agency’s board and the federal government – will vary based on factors including their income, the number of adults who are able to work and whether a renter is elderly or disabled.
The tough pitch comes as the San Diego Housing Commission faces federal budget challenges and surging per-voucher costs. We’ve previously covered how rising costs already led the agency to stop pulling families from its lengthy waiting list and to stop doling out vouchers for specific housing projects.
Next steps: The Housing Commission board is set to discuss the proposed changes at its 9 a.m. meeting today. The board is set to vote on the proposal next month.
In Other News
KPBS reports that San Diegans who rely on CalFresh food aid are stuck playing the waiting game following court orders that the federal government deploy those funds.
The San Diego Union-Tribune explained why the county’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board cleared sheriff’s deputies in a jail death that the medical examiner ruled as a homicide due to neglect.
Poo scoop: Axios revealed that budget cuts led the city to stop ticketing off-leash dog owners who are wrecking school fields.
CBS 8 reports that San Diego International Airport is among those nationwide expected to see a 10 percent reduction in flights as the government shutdown continues.
NBC 7 San Diego reveals that some city residents are stuck with not one but two trash bins after the city delivered new ones and failed to retrieve the old ones.PSA from Fox 5 San Diego: Southbound Interstate 5 will be closed from State Route 52 to Mission Bay Drive from 9 p.m. tonight through Monday at 5 a.m.
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.