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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Shuttered School Sued for $37,000 Printer - voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled: The Education Blog

Shuttered School Sued for $37,000 Printer - voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled: The Education Blog
29Dec
Shuttered School Sued for $37,000 Printer

A shuttered charter school and its former principal are being sued by an Illinois financial company for allegedly failing to pay more than $37,000 they owe for a digital printer and copier.

Theory Into Practice Academy was shut down two years ago after an Encinitas Union School District investigation concluded that the school's board and administration violated conflict of interest laws and mismanaged its finances. While charter schools are independently run, they are publicly funded and usually overseen by school districts, which can close them if they violate the law, don't manage their money properly or fall far short academically.

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29Dec
Thousands of Parents Haven’t Paid Up for Busing

If you're a San Diego parent who puts your kid on a bus to school, you probably know that San Diego Unified started charging some families more than $300 annually for busing this year.

Then again, maybe you don't know that.

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28Dec
More on School Pension Worries

There's an interesting article today in the U-T about public educator pensions and how their costs statewide could echo city pension problems. Here were its key findings:

The state teacher's pension system faces a $40.5 billion shortfall over the next 34 years, in part because it owes payments for life to people such as Rudy Castruita, the retired superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education.

Castruita receives the region's top educator pension of $281,034 a year, or 107 percent of his final salary. ...

The average retired educator in San Diego County is paid $40,633 per year, or 58 percent of final salary. That's more than the average general city worker at $37,442 but less than the $67,428 for firefighters or the $62,098 for police officers.

About 5 percent of educators receive pensions that pay them 100 percent or more of their final salary.

Some 254 receive pensions of $100,000 or more, or 1.7 percent of the retirees. That compares to 3.4 percent of city retirees.
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