Wednesday, December 14, 2011

School reformer to discuss mayoral involvement in schools | SignOnSanDiego.com

School reformer to discuss mayoral involvement in schools | SignOnSanDiego.com:

School reformer to discuss mayoral involvement in schools

Michelle Rhee kicks off statewide listening tour in San Diego



Mayors and schools

When: Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m.

Where: Shiley Theater, USD

Who: Michelle Rhee, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson

RSVP: Go to StudentsFirst website

Michelle Rhee — AP

— Just as education is creeping into the San Diego mayor’s race for the first time in recent memory, former Washington D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee will be in San Diego on Wednesday to kick off a series of education forums with California mayors.

Mayor Jerry Sanders and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson — Rhee’s husband — will get the conversation started at the University of San Diego event sponsored by Rhee’s nonprofit StudentsFirst. It’s uncertain where this will go since California’s Constitution assigns power over local education to elected school boards.

San Diego mayoral candidates and other City Hall officials have been tiptoeing toward schools, although none has said how much of a role they want in the operation of California’s second-largest district.

City Council President Tony Young and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, a candidate for mayor, announced a plan last month to step up City Hall’