Voice of San Diego Podcast

Latest Episodes:

A Conversation with School Board Members Hazan and Petterson Dec 20, 2024

Show notes

This week we have a special episode for you. This coming year is going to be a difficult one for leaders of San Diego Unified School District. They are facing a massive budget deficit, ongoing stagnation in enrollment. They’re grappling with the aftermath of scandals involving sexual misconduct allegations that got the attention of the federal government and brought down the district’s superintendent.

Cody Petterson was just named the new school board president. He’ll guide the five member Board of Education for the District.

He’s taking over that role from his colleague, trustee Shana Hazan.

Both of them came into the studio to talk about all these issues and more. It was a frank and interesting exchange on some very touchy topics in education.

Show Notes

You can show your support for our podcast today by going to vosd.org/podpeople

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San Diego Unified School District Board of Education

About

Shana Hazan Board President - District B Term Expires: December 2026

Cody Petterson Board Vice President - District C Term Expires: December 2026

Selected Recent VOSD Stories: San Diego Unified School District

Oct 14, 2024

San Diego Student Test Scores Haven’t Made Up Pandemic Losses

The slow recovery from pandemic performance drop offs coupled with growing budget woes may spell trouble for districts like San Diego Unified.

Sep 12, 2024

Billions of Dollars Later, Some San Diego Unified Students Still Dealing with Hot Classrooms

Taxpayers have voted to give San Diego Unified School District $11.5 billion over the last 16 years with the express purpose of bringing working air...

Sep 5, 2024

New San Diego Schools Superintendent Didn’t Mention Misconduct or Victims in Speech to Principals

Over multiple district communications since Lamont Jackson's firing, there's been a group of people conspicuously missing.

Sep 3, 2024

Lamont Jackson Is Out as San Diego Unified Supe. What’s Next?

Fabiola Bagula, who was elevated to acting superintendent from her deputy superintendent role after Jackson's firing, seems poised to keep that role.

Aug 29, 2024

Investigation Into San Diego Unified Superintendent Substantiates Allegations of Misconduct Involving Staff

The allegations against Superintendent Lamont Jackson were levied by former San Diego Unified School District staff.

Aug 19, 2024

Feds Slam San Diego Unified’s Handling of Sexual Misconduct

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education skewers how San Diego Unified for years handled sexual misconduct complaints.

Aug 12, 2024

School Is Back in Session: 4 Education Stories to Follow

Believe it or not, most schools in San Diego County are back in session. If the new school year snuck up on you, that's likely because start dates have been…

Jun 12, 2024

The Learning Curve: San Diego Unified’s AI Future Is Now

San Diego Unified paid $83,000 to integrate its high school English curriculum into an online platform and got access to an AI tool as well.

Jun 11, 2024

San Diego Unified High Schoolers: Getting Great Grades But Troubling Test Scores

An analysis of thousands of letter grades from San Diego Unified high schoolers shows that far more students pass classes in subjects like English, math and...

May 20, 2024

San Diego Unified Investigating Superintendent Lamont Jackson

Though a district official has confirmed an investigation is occurring, no one will say what prompted it.

May 17, 2024

San Diego Unified Is Slowly Embracing Science of Reading

The district has long relied on an approach to teaching kids to read that's not back by science. Now, officials are working to change that – but it hasn't...

May 16, 2024

San Diego Unified Walks Back Majority of Teacher Layoffs

District officials announced Thursday that they had rescinded 96 percent of the layoff notices issued in March.

Feb 26, 2024

‘I Can’t Wait Until You’re 18’: Despite Years of Sexual Harassment Allegations, San Diego Unified Allowed Teacher to Quietly Retire

For years, students and faculty at Roosevelt Middle filed complaints against a middle school math teacher. Students alleged he'd grabbed their butts,...

Feb 21, 2024

San Diego Unified Board Member: Teacher Layoffs Are Coming

In June, San Diego Unified officials announced the district was projecting big deficits in the coming years. The expiration of hundreds of millions of...

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Getting to the Meat and Potatoes Dec 13, 2024

Show notes

December 13, 2024

The election just ended. The election just started. We often accuse politicians of being short sighted but one thing they definitely plan far in advance is their next political move. We may have heard the first shots in the 2028 mayoral race.

The city has a new president of the City Council and the region has a new Republican leader, same as the old one.

And the county passed a rule about what the sheriff can and cannot do with immigration enforcement officers and the sheriff said thank you but I run my own show.

We get into the meat and potatoes of it all.

Show Notes

San Diego's Pension Scandal:

Wikipedia San Diego pension scandal

VOSD Mayor Announces New Pension Board Nominees; Whistleblower’s Name Absent
by Andrew Donohue
February 28, 2005

La Jolla Secession:

VOSD Morning Report: In Point Loma, Talk of Secession
by Randy Dotinga
January 6, 2011

VOSD Mayor Gloria Chimes in on La Jolla Secession
‘As a Mayor, I wouldn’t recommend it,’ he said on the VOSD Podcast last week.
by Jakob McWhinney
December 10, 2024

101 Ash Street (the former Sempra building)

Wikipedia 101 Ash Street

VOSD How the City Came to Lease a Lemon
It’s likely the city never would have purchased 101 Ash St. if a developer hadn’t come along to act as middleman. But that structure also laid the groundwork for a situation that is stunningly messy even in the canon of San Diego real estate history.
by Lisa Halverstadt and Jesse Marx
August 10, 2020

San Diego City Council Meeting Item 330: Proposed Settlement Agreement Involving Acquisition of the 101 Ash Street and Civic Center Plaza Properties

Carl DeMaio

Carl DeMaio Won an Assembly Seat but the Road to Victory Was Vicious
The Republican Party of San Diego County has been absorbed in a family feud centered around their newest elected official, incoming Assembly member Carl DeMaio.
by Deborah Sullivan Brennan
December 6, 2024

Sanctuary City San Diego

Border Report: Schools, Churches Mull Sanctuary Policies
by Brooke Binkowski
December 5, 2016

Neither San Diego – Nor California – Is a Sanctuary for the Undocumented
by Scott Lewis
February 21, 2017

Border Report: What a Sanctuary City Is, and Isn’t
by Kate Morrissey
December 9, 2024

Jim Desmond's Instagram Account
What does it mean to become a “Super” Sanctuary County? To fully grasp the implications, you need to understand California’s current sanctuary state law and its impact.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda Item 29
SUBJECT: ADOPTING A BOARD POLICY ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
TO ENHANCE COMMUNITY SAFETY (DISTRICTS: ALL)
December 10, 2024
Agenda Item 29 PDF
Meeting Video on YouTube

Statement on Board of Supervisors Vote on Immigration Enforcement
Sheriff's Office to continue following state law.
Post Date:12/10/2024 5:15 PM

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A Conversation with Mayor Todd Gloria Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

We’ve got the full crew in today to host a conversation with Mayor Todd Gloria, fresh off re-election, the mayor has no honeymoon. A huge budget deficit is coming up and his plan to deal with it – a tax increase – failed.

For more on the issues:

Can San Diego Finally Pass a Sales Tax Increase?

Politics Report: The Civic Center Dream

101 Ash St.

Newly Homeless Residents Still Outpacing Newly Housed

Homelessness Crisis Response System 2023 Data and Performance Report

Morning Report: The Battle Against Homeless Shelters

Wendy's - 'Where's the Beef ' Ad (Original - 1984)

La Jollans Are Trying to Divorce San Diego (Again)

November 1, 2024 Podcast: 2024 Election Draft Pick (start at 16:40 for Andrea’s description of the Mayor’s pup)

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A Conversation with Sean Elo-Rivera Nov 29, 2024

Show notes

This week is thanksgiving so what better time for us to bring back beef week? It’s more like Beef 10 Days. It may seem incongruent but we should all be thankful we can beef in local politics without violence or whatever.

And we have a special guest this week, Council President Sean Elo-Rivera is here. We’ll talk about the election and some tough decisions coming up for him and his colleagues.

LINKS

For more on the issues:

Beef Week

No Longer ‘Norita.’ Some of Nora Vargas’ Constituents Sour on her Leadership

It’s Impossible to Pee Legally in San Diego

Sean Elo-Rivera Official City Webpage

Sean Elo-Rivera Instagram

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San Diego's Felonious Supplier Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

The Registrar of Voters made us wait six days for an update on the vote count from November 5 – 16 days ago. The main local race we’re still watching is the Oceanside mayoral race. Just 31 votes separated the incumbent and her challenger.

Senior investigative reporter Will Huntsberry will join us later on the show to explain why the city of San Diego has purchased at least $1 million worth of gear from a man involved in one of the largest law enforcement scandals in San Diego’s history.

And new data about local schools just dropped. There’s some encouraging news but it’s still kind of bleak.

For more on the issues:

Bill Walton FBI files

Pop culture in the FBI filing cabinet:

Sanctuary City rhetoric

KTLA’s Story on LA’s Sanctuary City declaration

A Man Convicted in a Major Law Enforcement Scandal Is Doing Big Business with the City

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Bonus: Stop Calling it a Surge Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

The current migration from Central America to the U.S. is one of the biggest national stories right now — often referred to as a "surge."

In this podcast, Tom Wong, UC San Diego professor and director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center, is going to explain what’s really happening and how it all fits within longstanding patterns.

Wong and host Andrew Keatts are going to get into the data, how it's captured and how pent-up demand from the 2020 pandemic is catching up to us.

Keep up with immigration news with The Border Report: vosd.org/border

Support local journalism: vosd.org/donate

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Marten and Migrants in the National Spotlight Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

When San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten sat in front of a U.S. Senate committee this week as part of the process to confirm her as deputy education secretary, many senators got to ask questions we've been wanting to ask for a while. We're gonna get into those questions now.

Plus, the San Diego Convention Center — which has sheltered homeless San Diegans during the pandemic — will soon house migrant children seeking asylum.

(Keep an eye on the feed for a bonus episode with a local expert who will zoom out on the longer migration trends and how this moment fits in.)

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Bonus: It’s All a Race — Interview With an Immunologist Mar 20, 2021

Show notes

This week, Scott Lewis got to talk to Dr. Shane Crotty, an immunologist and vaccine expert who leads the Crotty Lab at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology at UC San Diego.

They broke down some of the science of COVID-19 as it tries to thrive in the world — and the race between us and the virus. Plus, Crotty answers listener questions.

Support explanatory journalism at vosd.org/parkermatch

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Another Dark Week in the Homelessness Crisis Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

San Diego’s homeless residents have been struck by yet another horrific and deadly tragedy. On the show, we put this week's events into context and discuss the major roadblock to any real homelessness solutions: a lack of truly affordable housing.

Plus: San Diego schools are about to get an unprecedented amount of money. So what now?

Bonus episode coming soon! Make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss our upcoming interview about vaccine science and the race against COVID.

Support explanatory journalism and your gift will be matched! Join at vosd.org/parkermatch

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Schools, Streets and Sweet Federal Cash Mar 12, 2021

Show notes

Educators are scrambling to decide when and how to reopen. But what does "open" really mean?

This week, we get in the middle of haggling that's going on between school district officials and the teachers union.

It's been three months since Mayor Todd Gloria took office. We check on his progress and promises about homelessness. Plus, a windfall of cash is coming to the region thanks to federal coronavirus relief. So, what next?

Join VOSD today and get your donation matched! Support explanatory journalism at vosd.org/parkermatch

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