Nearly a decade ago, state experts flagged thousands of school buildings that might be vulnerable in an earthquake. Engineers cautioned school districts that more inspections were needed to tell if the buildings were in trouble.
But here in San Diego County, many of those inspections never happened. Only about 100 of the 320 school buildings countywide that raised concerns have been reviewed, repaired or demolished.
That means that children go to school in about 200 buildings across the county where earthquake safety is still an unanswered question, the result of a long string of shortcomings in how California and its school districts have handled seismic safety.
Roughly half of those buildings are in South Bay Union School District. It passed a $59 million bond three years ago to upgrade fire alarms, renovate restrooms, ensure schools are accessible to the disabled and make other repairs. Yet it has not checked nearly 100 buildings for seismic safety.
State test scores are slated to come out next week. What should we look for?
Are there any schools that have been trying new and interesting things where you're waiting to see the test scores? Any questions you have about how testing works or how to understand the numbers? Please send me your suggestions by email, Twitter or via the blog before the deluge of data comes out!
Emily Alpert is the education reporter for voiceofsandiego.org. What should she write about next? Please contact her directly at emily.alpert@voiceofsandiego.org. Follow @emilyschoolsyou
The big news in the edu-world this week is that the feds are dangling something juicy in front of states sick of No Child Left Behind: A chance to wave aside the law's stringent testing goals.
The big catch is what they want in return and whether California is prepared to deliver it.
No Child Left Behind sets targets for student testing that critics say are unrealistic. Because the bar rises every year, more and more schools are considered failing, so many that the label is losing meaning. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called it "a slow-motion train wreck" in The New York Times.