Marsha Sutton

Education Matters: Democrats and the teachers union

July 6, 2017 at 3:14 p.m.

The strong ties that have historically bound of the Democratic Party to teachers unions appear to be loosening.When steadfast Democrats in Sacramento resist the unions and sponsor bills like...

Education Matters: Setting the record straight

June 29, 2017 at 11:00 p.m.

A complimentary email from a reader about my recent columns concluded with a P.S. that surprised me: “I know you’re Republican but …”Then there was a critical reader who wrote...

Education Matters: Odds and ends

June 8, 2017 at 7:10 p.m.

More high schools are focusing on end-of-the-year portfolios “as indicators of whether students have acquired the skills they will need to succeed after graduation,” according to a recent article in...

Education Matters: Test return policy; counselors per student; teacher salaries; donations vs. fees

June 3, 2017 at 11:54 a.m.

As the end of the school year approaches, before it’s too late I want to circle back and follow up on the test return policy at the San Dieguito Union...

Education Matters: Betting on hope

May 18, 2017 at 4:35 p.m.

The San Dieguito Union High School District projected a $9.2 million deficit at its March board meeting. At the May board meeting, the projected deficit was recalculated at about $8.5...

Education Matters: Revisiting money issues

May 11, 2017 at 5:54 p.m.

This year’s $9.2 million deficit continues to loom large for the San Dieguito Union High School District, which is good reason to revisit the December 2015 teachers’ contract and the...

Education Matters: Bill on later school start times advances; Islamophobia and getting rid of hate

May 4, 2017 at 8:14 p.m.

San Dieguito Union High School District trustee John Salazar has asked SDUHSD superintendent Eric Dill and board president Amy Herman to place on the May 11 board agenda the proposed...

Education Matters: Reviewing your child’s tests at home

April 27, 2017 at 6:19 p.m.

Although last year’s court ruling on what’s known as the test-return policy came down in favor of the San Dieguito Union High School District, parents are still able to have...

Education Matters: SOUL charter school on track to open this fall

April 20, 2017 at 8:12 p.m.

With approval granted by the San Diego County Board of Education in January, the School of Universal Learning (SOUL) Charter School is on its way to opening this fall within...

Education Matters: Leaving our mark on the world

April 6, 2017 at 11:03 p.m.

I stare into the fire, jabbing it with my poker. It’s been a long holiday week. My kids came home from cities far away, I turned another year older, and...

Education Matters: Strumming through the ABCs

November 20, 2017 at 7:49 p.m.

March was Music in Schools Month, the National Association for Music Education’s annual celebration to promote the benefits of high quality music education in schools.Coincidentally, on March 20, the first...

Harvesting food awareness in Encinitas, Part Two

March 17, 2017 at 2:27 p.m.

When developers were granted permits to build new housing in Encinitas in the 1990s, they were required to reserve land for schools to serve the children of the new homes.A...

Education Matters: Harvesting food awareness in Encinitas

March 10, 2017 at 1:48 a.m.

People talk about the need to teach future generations about the environment, conservation and food justice. But most schools are doing little more to educate kids to the growing needs...

Education Matters: Time for term limits

March 2, 2017 at 10:33 p.m.

Too many school board regard their elected positions as full-time careers and have served on school boards far longer than is reasonable. Term limits have been ed by citizens for...

Education matters: Money for nothing

February 23, 2017 at 10:42 p.m.

By a vote of 4-1, San Dieguito Union High School District trustees in December approved offering stipends to any employee –teacher or not – who gave notice before Feb. 1...

International Baccalaureate coming to San Dieguito

February 9, 2017 at 8:14 p.m.

One of the most exciting developments in years for the San Dieguito Union High School District is the advent of an International Baccalaureate program at La Costa Canyon High School. Beginning...

Education Matters: Education gets a little SOUL

January 26, 2017 at 9:08 p.m.

There’s a new kid on the block in the San Dieguito Union High School District. Coming to a location near you this fall, the School of Universal Learning – SOUL –...

Education Matters: Kid stuff – for grown-ups

January 20, 2017 at 1:38 a.m.

No matter how old they get, when you take your kids to a Science Museum, it’s like they’re 10 again.I was very excited to see the Fleet Science Center’s Art...

Education Matters: When foundation appeals cross the line

December 8, 2016 at 11:50 p.m.

Every few months, a parent tells me that their school’s foundation is fundraising in a way that feels punitive. Through strong-arm tactics and coercive language, foundation flyers and pleas for money...

Education Matters: Stop the hate

November 17, 2016 at 9:23 p.m.

It’s as if the floodgates have suddenly been opened. Hate is flowing freely in schools across the nation since Donald Trump was elected.This tweet from a parent sums it up:...

Education Matters: Will Harvie’s return

November 10, 2016 at 6:05 p.m.

If there were only one school board meeting to attend all year, San Dieguito’s on Nov. 3 was it.About 100 people squeezed into the San Dieguito Union High School District...

Education Matters: Education propositions on the ballot

November 2, 2016 at 5:03 p.m.

As a socially-liberal fiscal conservative (or a fiscally-conservative social liberal), I find myself in a bind at each election cycle. The Republican Party is too extreme on social issues, and...

Education Matters: The rest of the SOUL story

October 27, 2016 at 7:09 p.m.

The surprising thing about the vote to deny the SOUL charter school petition is that there was definitely the sense that San Dieguito school board were inclined to ...

Education Matters: Microscopes and clarinets vs. raises and the surplus

April 1, 2019 at 5:28 p.m.

Last week’s column ended with the assertion that the San Dieguito Union High School District, with its just announced $4 million surplus, should stop asking parents for money for basic...

Education Matters: Clearing up LCFF confusion

October 4, 2016 at 8:39 p.m.

The portion of last week’s column that discussed the Local Control Funding Formula money received by the San Dieguito Union High School District was incomplete, somewhat confusing and requires further...

Education Matters: Money is flowing, but in the right direction?

September 28, 2016 at 12:48 a.m.

The state’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) has provided school districts with significantly increased revenue which was intended to address the needs of traditionally under-performing groups of students, as well...

Education Matters: Later school start times at San Dieguito remain elusive

September 8, 2016 at 7:14 p.m.

The last time I wrote about school start times, I began by saying, “I can’t believe I’m writing about this again.” And here I am doing it yet again.Why? Because...

Education Matters: Smarter and more balanced

September 6, 2016 at 4:18 p.m.

No, Smarter Balanced is not a butter substitute. It’s a ridiculous name for tests that assess student achievement on the new Common Core State Standards.Not sure about balanced, but one...

Education Matters: Tracking teacher absences

August 26, 2016 at 7:38 p.m.

Data provided by the U.S. Department of Education show that teacher absenteeism may be more of a problem than student absenteeism, which receives more attention.An article in the Aug. 15,...

Education Matters: Beyond the Comic-Con spectacle

August 26, 2016 at 8:34 p.m.

Behind the craziness of Comic-Con is a hidden world of education s that offers tips and insights into trends in teaching tools, strategies for improved classroom learning, and for...

Education Matters: What constitutes a sex crime?

August 26, 2016 at 9:21 p.m.

Two female students at Earl Warren Middle School reported seeing a substitute teacher viewing pornography on his computer during class on June 1. However, the San Dieguito Union High School...

Bernie’s youth battalion

August 26, 2016 at 9:53 p.m.

What is it about a 74-year-old balding politician that has young voters so excited?A New York Times Iowa poll of Democratic voters entering the caucuses throughout the state showed that...

Education Matters: Bernie’s youth battalion

August 26, 2016 at 9:54 p.m.

What is it about a 74-year-old balding politician that has young voters so excited?A New York Times Iowa poll of Democratic voters entering the caucuses throughout the state showed that...

Education Matters: ing Doug Perkins

August 26, 2016 at 10:30 p.m.

When Doug Perkins died May 6, the local community – indeed, the entire San Diego region – lost a dedicated public servant for children and a great champion for the...

Moving on up: San Dieguito loses a top

August 26, 2016 at 11:20 p.m.

It hasn’t been for lack of material that there hasn’t been an Education Matters column in two months. Stacks of files on my desk sit six inches high and provide...

Education Matters: Free speech rights for teachers vs. financial security of unions

August 26, 2016 at 11:56 p.m.

It was fascinating to listen to oral arguments Jan. 11 in the Supreme Court’s Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case and to hear the justices vigorously question attorneys. The lawsuit...

More maddening money matters

August 26, 2016 at 11:59 p.m.

I swore last week’s column would be the last I’d write about San Dieguito Union High School District’s overly charitable labor contract approved last month. Then on SDUHSD’s Jan. 14...

Budgeting for the San Dieguito raise

August 27, 2016 at 12:02 a.m.

Budget ramifications of San Dieguito Union High School District’s new 2015-2018 teachers’ contract will impact the district’s taxpayers for years to come and deserve deeper analysis than the district is...

Budgeting for the San Dieguito raise

August 27, 2016 at 12:02 a.m.

Budget ramifications of San Dieguito Union High School District’s new 2015-2018 teachers’ contract will impact the district’s taxpayers for years to come and deserve deeper analysis than the district is...

Transparency is lost in the San Dieguito teachers’ contract

August 27, 2016 at 12:04 a.m.

As predicted, after San Dieguito Union High School District supt. Rick Schmitt postponed the vote for a week to give the public extra time to review the new teacher contract,...

Transparency is lost in the San Dieguito teachers’ contract

August 27, 2016 at 12:04 a.m.

As predicted, after San Dieguito Union High School District supt. Rick Schmitt postponed the vote for a week to give the public extra time to review the new teacher contract,...

Lack of transparency on teacher contract vote

August 27, 2016 at 12:16 a.m.

Points go to San Dieguito Union High School District superintendent Rick Schmitt for delaying the Board of Trustees’ vote on a new teacher contract, which was scheduled for last week....

Education Matters: More questions than answers

August 27, 2016 at 12:19 a.m.

Late last Friday it was revealed that the San Dieguito Union High School District’s Board of Trustees would be voting to accept an agreement with its teachers union (the San...

Education Matters: Bonds that bind

August 27, 2016 at 12:42 a.m.

At the Oct. 8 Solana Beach School District board meeting, trustees unanimously approved a not-to-exceed contract for $68,000 with marketing strategist Tom Shepard of Public Policy Strategies. The purpose, according...

Education Matters: The littlest salespeople

August 27, 2016 at 12:44 a.m.

One of the benefits of having our children and their friends get older is being spared the pressure to contribute to their schools by buying unwanted (and always unread) magazines,...

Education Matters: Pope Francis, Bernie Sanders, and educational inequity

August 27, 2016 at 12:47 a.m.

If you liked Pope Francis’s message last week, you’ve got to love Bernie Sanders. When the pope spoke of the heartbreaking misery of those living in poverty, he was not...

Education Matters: High school testing, college acceptance, and middle school desperation

August 27, 2016 at 1:00 a.m.

Looking at local schools’ test scores, released last week, reminds me of a classic Steve Martin routine on how to be a millionaire.“First,” he says, “get a million dollars.”How to...

Education Matters: High school testing, college acceptance, and middle school desperation

August 27, 2016 at 1:00 a.m.

Looking at local schools’ test scores, released last week, reminds me of a classic Steve Martin routine on how to be a millionaire.“First,” he says, “get a million dollars.”How to...

Education Matters: Foundation on shaky ground?

August 27, 2016 at 1:03 a.m.

San Dieguito Union High School District foundations raise money to fund athletics, robotics, science labs, music, art, theater and other areas in the educational environment to supplement and enrich primary...

Education Matters: No boundaries for neighborhood school

August 27, 2016 at 1:05 a.m.

At a board workshop that attracted nearly 200 people on Monday, San Dieguito Union High School District staff was directed by a divided board to make no changes to its...

Education Matters: There’s an education side to Comic-Con

August 27, 2016 at 1:27 a.m.

Behind the glitz, glamour and garishness of San Diego Comic-Con’s entertainment spectacular is a lesser-known side that explores serious education issues for preschoolers through the teen years.In after ,...

Education Matters: The Comic-Con extravaganza

August 27, 2016 at 1:29 a.m.

To say Comic-Con is a spectacle would be a massive understatement. The Exhibit Hall is sensory overload for adults (I couldn’t begin to imagine how the 3- and 4-year-olds in...

Education Matters: Del Mar settles with former employee, and other money matters

August 27, 2016 at 1:35 a.m.

The Del Mar Union School District and permanent certificated employee, known as #199-415, have agreed to settle their differences. This is according to an “Employment Separation, Settlement Agreement and Release...

Education Matters: Making “the list”

August 27, 2016 at 1:37 a.m.

In a note referencing my column two weeks ago about the $25 “fee” the Canyon Crest Academy Foundation charged for physical exams for high school athletes, a parent said this...

Filling Doug Perkins’ shoes

August 27, 2016 at 1:40 a.m.

“Former Del Mar Union School District trustee Doug Perkins has resigned his position on the San Diego County Board of Education, after suffering a massive hemorrhagic stroke in February.”That opening...

Education Matters: Pay to play? The debate over ‘donation’ vs. ‘fee’

August 27, 2016 at 1:44 a.m.

Where to begin? So much is happening in the San Dieguito Union High School District that it’s hard to know where to start.Perhaps the best place to start is with...

Testing, testing…1, 2, 3: Part 2

August 27, 2016 at 1:59 a.m.

Students in grades 3-8, and grade 11, have been spending a good part of the merry month of May taking standardized tests ordered this year by the state under a...

Testing, testing…1, 2, 3

August 27, 2016 at 2:04 a.m.

For most of us, the month of May brings to mind images of flowers, sunshine, relaxing beach time and the coming summer. For students, May is anticipated about as much...

Enrollment overload

August 27, 2016 at 2:20 a.m.

Has a precedent been set to forever allow all ninth-grade students into Canyon Crest Academy and San Dieguito High School Academy?Last year and this coming fall, the San Dieguito Union...

Enrollment study group wraps up its work

August 27, 2016 at 2:23 a.m.

The fourth and final meeting of San Dieguito Union High School District’s enrollment study group was held Feb. 17 and was, as requested in my Feb. 5 column, open to...

For the health of our kids

August 27, 2016 at 2:28 a.m.

Senate Bill 277 — the proposed repeal of the personal belief exemption for school immunizations — has been discussed in local school districts recently, with mixed results.The resolution ing SB...

From kindergarten to bond money – and other matters in between

August 27, 2016 at 2:33 a.m.

The first time I wrote about the lack of a full-day kindergarten program in the Del Mar Union School District was back in 2000. The title of my story was:...

Vexing vaccination violators

August 27, 2016 at 2:57 a.m.

like herd immunity and anti-vaxxers are now commonly understood, thanks to the recent measles outbreak and heightened awareness of the number of unvaccinated children.The “personal belief exemption” (PBE) phrase...

Vexing vaccination violators

August 27, 2016 at 2:57 a.m.

like herd immunity and anti-vaxxers are now commonly understood, thanks to the recent measles outbreak and heightened awareness of the number of unvaccinated children.The “personal belief exemption” (PBE) phrase...

Education Matters: San Dieguito’s boundary quandary

August 27, 2016 at 3:00 a.m.

The decision by the San Dieguito Union High School District last spring to create a task force to study the district’s boundary policies was billed as an effort to be...

Questioning legality of San Dieguito boundary group meetings

August 27, 2016 at 3:09 a.m.

The fourth meeting of San Dieguito Union High School District’s “study group,” created to consider changes in high school boundaries, will meet Feb. 17.This meeting, as with the previous three,...

My dad died

August 27, 2016 at 3:14 a.m.

“How are you doing?” — “My dad died.”“Have a great day.” — “My dad died.”“Happy New Year!” — “My dad died.”Of course I didn’t say it. But it’s all I...

Charlie is the wor(l)d

August 27, 2016 at 3:21 a.m.

JE SUIS CHARLIE.Just as after 9/11, when civilized people around the globe proclaimed they are all American, today we proclaim we are all French.Because what happened last week was an...

Boardroom drama in San Dieguito as Groth says goodbye

September 1, 2016 at 7:40 a.m.

In my 18 years covering local school districts, never do I a school board member filling out a speaker slip and leaving the dais to stand at the public...

Election wrap-up – teachers unions in descent?

September 1, 2016 at 7:28 a.m.

Barbara Groth’s surprising loss for re-election to her fifth term on the San Dieguito Union High School District Board of Education, and incumbent Amy Herman’s lackluster third-place finish, may signify...

San Dieguito enrollment study group formed, facilitator chosen

September 1, 2016 at 6:56 a.m.

Vocal community dissatisfaction with San Dieguito Union High School District policies on enrollment and attendance boundaries last spring has led the district to create a task force to explore the...

San Diego’s Rock Week of Wonder

September 1, 2016 at 6:39 a.m.

It was a Week of Wonder in San Diego last week, with concerts by three of the biggest names from the 1960s and ’70s. In six days, our fair city...

Yet another study on the benefits of later school start times

September 1, 2016 at 6:05 a.m.

I can't believe I'm writing about this again.My fourth column, written in October of 2003, focused on the mountains of scientific research showing conclusively that early school start times for...

Salaries, benefits, and how columns grow out of control

September 1, 2016 at 5:18 a.m.

Some of you have asked why my columns are so long. It’s a good question, because I never set out to write so much. It’s hubris to think my words...

Focus on senior portraits

September 1, 2016 at 5:15 a.m.

As part of its contract with the San Dieguito Union High School District to shoot senior yearbook portraits, Keane Studios, located in Carmel Valley, receives personal information for each...

Pushing boundaries

September 1, 2016 at 5:07 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonFew issues cause parents more distress than changes in school boundaries. Who can forget the tumult when in 2002 the Del Mar Union School District moved hundreds of...

No blame game on illegal student fees

September 1, 2016 at 4:59 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonIt would be easy to assume, after the last few columns, that the staff at the San Dieguito Union High School District deserves condemnation.Recent stories highlighting what may...

High school student parking fees under scrutiny

September 1, 2016 at 4:35 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonAt $40 annually per vehicle, the San Dieguito Union High School District collected over $77,000 in fees this year from students for campus parking permits.With an overall budget...

Illegal fees collected for cap-and-gown; refunds owed

September 1, 2016 at 4:13 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonParents who paid for caps and gowns for their graduating high school seniors this year are owed a full refund, the San Dieguito Union High School District has...

News for high school athletes and graduating seniors

September 1, 2016 at 4:10 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonIn her fight to ensure fair and equal access for all public school students in California, Sally Smith is a champion for those without a voice and Public...

A vote for decency on the county school board

September 1, 2016 at 4:00 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonA lawyer once told me he would rather defend rapists and murderers than dive into the ugly world of education politics. Although joking (sort of), I take his...

Property tax bill error: what happened, what next

September 1, 2016 at 3:45 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonFollowing last week’s column on the property tax bill error caused tly by the San Dieguito Union High School District and the county of San Diego, left unsaid...

District shares blame in $7 million property tax bill error

September 1, 2016 at 3:36 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonAfter hearing from staff how the district was not blameless in the property tax bill error discovered last October, the San Dieguito Union High School District’s Board of...

Education Matters: Teacher training in Del Mar: In search of balance

September 1, 2016 at 2:38 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonAs a final follow-up to the recent series on professional development in the Del Mar Union School District, DMUSD superintendent Holly McClurg explained why some teachers are out...

Education Matters: Teacher training vs. time in the classroom: How Del Mar walks the tightrope

September 1, 2016 at 2:29 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonAfter all the hubbub about what some say is an excessive amount of teacher training in the Del Mar Union School District, I asked to sit in on...

Education Matters: Teacher training vs. time in the classroom: How Del Mar walks the tightrope

September 1, 2016 at 2:24 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonLast week’s column discussed the Del Mar Union School District’s balancing act as it tries to provide professional development for its teachers without negatively impacting students and impeding...

Teacher training vs. time in the classroom: How Del Mar walks the tightrope

September 1, 2016 at 2:14 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonPart One of a three-part series:Three years ago, under then assistant superintendent Holly McClurg, the Del Mar Union School District adopted an intense regimen of professional development, mostly...

A conversation with the Del Mar and Solana Beach superintendents

September 1, 2016 at 1:16 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonWhen I received an invitation to the Del Mar Union and Solana Beach school district superintendents for a casual chat over coffee at a local restaurant, I...

Evolutionary revelations

September 1, 2016 at 1:14 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonWhen I received this email message from my cousin – “We’re doomed; we’re just so utterly doomed.” – I figured it was his usual cynical hyperbole.But after clicking...

The shift to Common Core and what’s troubling about it

September 1, 2016 at 12:49 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonNew awareness that students are graduating high school without the skills and knowledge they need for success in college and career has prompted the creation of a national...

Policy changed for questioning of students by school authorities

September 1, 2016 at 12:26 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonSeveral weeks ago, I presented the first of two recent policy changes at the San Dieguito Union High School District, on “Discipline” – and promised a discussion the...

How to repair broken trust over tax bill debacle

September 1, 2016 at 12:01 a.m.

By Marsha SuttonBy now everyone has probably heard that all property owners in the San Dieguito Union High School District received a tax bill for the 2013-2014 year with an...

Taxpayers overcharged due to error in high school district property tax bill calculations

August 31, 2016 at 11:51 p.m.

By Marsha Sutton (editorial/opinion column)Posted Oct. 24, 2013 at 4 a.m. (Story updated below Oct. 26, 2013 at 10:35 a.m.)County acknowledges error in tax billFor those of you who have not yet...

Bad boys (and girls) – ‘Whacha gonna do?’

August 31, 2016 at 11:51 p.m.

By Marsha SuttonTwo recent policy changes at the San Dieguito Union High School District caught my attention – “Discipline” and “Questioning by Law Enforcement.”The board packet describes the revisions as...

The face of courage

August 31, 2016 at 11:43 p.m.

By Marsha SuttonWhat does it say about an ideology that is so afraid of a 16-year-old girl’s words that its radicals want to assassinate her? How pathetic do they have...

Money well spent?

August 31, 2016 at 11:33 p.m.

By Marsha SuttonAfter three months and $3.2 million of Proposition AA taxpayer money, Canyon Crest Academy has a field to rival the Chargers’.Well, maybe not quite. But to my untrained...

Money spent, money saved

August 31, 2016 at 11:19 p.m.

By Marsha SuttonContinuing with last week’s theme of school board agenda items concerning financial matters and policies and procedures, some decisions and actions taken in the San Dieguito Union High...

Buried school board agendas

August 31, 2016 at 11:12 p.m.

By Marsha SuttonAlthough not very sexy, some items buried beneath the newsier issues on local school board agendas deserve at least fleeting attention.Most have to do with money and policy,...

Two simple ideas to improve education

August 31, 2016 at 11:06 p.m.

By Marsha SuttonWhen Education Secretary Arne Duncan tweeted on Aug. 19 about the benefits of later school start times for teens in high schools, he created an unexpected buzz.But where...

State finds security breach during STAR testing at Canyon Crest Academy

August 31, 2016 at 10:35 p.m.

By Marsha SuttonAccording to a news release posted by the California Department of Education Aug. 9, heightened monitoring of the state’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) assessments, taken by public...