Monthly Archives: September 2008

Public forum set for SUSD board candidates

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 26, 2008 | Comments closed
A public forum for candidates for the Stockton Unified School District Board of Trustees is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 15 at Central Methodist Church, 3700 Pacific Ave. in Stockton. Candidates will make brief introductory statements, then will answer prepared questions from a moderator. Time permitting, additional questions will be asked by audience members, said [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Texting while driving

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 25, 2008 | Comments closed
     Yes, I confess I’m one of those idiots who has texted while driving — a practice that has now been banned.      I imposed a personal ban on texting while driving a few weeks ago, and believe it or not, there IS an SUSD angle to this anecdote.      After the seven-hour board meeting Sept. 8, [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

More on Geoffrey Canada

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 19, 2008 | Comments closed
Earlier this week I linked to an interview with NYC educator Geoffrey Canada. I wouldn’t go on about this if it wasn’t relevant and applicable locally to the local poor. Below, in two parts, are an Oprah Winfrey profile on and interview with him, for those interested in hearing more:
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Stagg High goes old school

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 18, 2008 | Comments closed
     Stagg High is slated to hold a homecoming parade along the Miracle Mile at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 26. It’s the first time the school has done this in a quarter century, but may become an annual event again. More details next week.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Lincoln admins moving to SUSD (updated)

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 18, 2008 | Comments closed
     Stockton Unified has had a void in upper-level management for a long time. But that’s starting to change, and in a couple of cases, SUSD has focused its talent search on Lincoln Unified.      SUSD has hired Tully Knoles principal Kirk Nicholas as an assistant superintendent of elementary education. What’s notable here is that Tully [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

An interesting, relevant interview on "Fresh Air"

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 16, 2008 | Comments closed
    Perhaps the best interview program around is “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, which airs on National Public Radio and can be heard in these parts at 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on 91.3 FM.     Monday, “Fresh Air” tackled education. You can read about the program and listen to the 36-minute interview here. The guests [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Grand jury response

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 12, 2008 | Comments closed
     The stormy Stockton Unified board meetings have been frequently chronicled here, and not just by me. So it’s time to give credit where it’s due; the board held a reasonably civil and productive 210-minute special meeting Thursday night, slogged through the grand jury report, and finalized a response. Sure, there were disagreements, but it [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

Video from Tuesday night

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 11, 2008 | Comments closed
     For those who weren’t there — or those who’d like to relive it — here’s some video from Tuesday night’s seven-hour board meeting.     Trustees Bill Ross and Sarah Bowden (with brief remarks by Dan Castillo and Ross consulting with attorney Gregory P. Goehring):         Here’s Superintendent Tony Amato discussing the reading program Success For [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

The Most Grating Show on Earth

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 10, 2008 | Comments closed
    For those wondering — a group likely limited to wife, child and assorted deceased relatives residing in the afterlife — I got home from tonight’s yesterday’s 7-hour, 10-minute board meeting at 12:28 Wednesday morning.           It’s become almost trite to compare certain Stockton Unified School District board meetings to circuses. But sometimes, you’ve just got [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed

A case study of one truant

By Roger Phillips | Published: September 3, 2008 | Comments closed
     First of all, and I am not sure how it happened or who’s to blame, but somehow in today’s article on the SUSD anti-truancy initiative, the phone number in the print edition was wrong. It’s (209) 462-5277.     Beyond that, as usual on a story like this, only a fraction of the reporting made it [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments closed