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San Diego Unified School District, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten, SDUSD Trustee Richard Barrera, SDUSD Trustee Sharon Whitehurst -Payne
As an ongoing feature, we will show the progress, or total lack thereof, of the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) leadership via relevant LOCAL news articles that focus on the SDUSD. We will also post the name of the reporter (if available).
Below is an interesting local article from a local reporter.
BE WELL…TAKE CORONAVIRUS PRECAUTIONS!
San Diego Unified Plans for Six Hours of Distance Learning Daily
Quotes from Article:
San Diego Unified School District is aiming to make distance learning this fall “as close as possible” to what school was like pre-COVID, according to new distance learning ground rules the district announced late Thursday night.
That means students will have a six-hour school day that includes daily video conferencing with a teacher.
Every school day, students will have up to three hours of live online instruction, at least two hours of independent work and at least one hour of students working in small groups or going to virtual office hours.
And…
Teachers will be required to work full workdays, hold office hours and arrange small-group instruction.
Those were some of the details finalized in a tentative agreement that was announced between San Diego Unified and its teachers union Thursday night. The district said it worked with parents, school administrators, students and teachers to design the new distance learning rules.
The agreement represents a significant change from distance learning in the spring, which had more lax requirements and was considered more of a last-minute, emergency measure. Back then, the district did not require teachers to work more than four hours a day or use Zoom and it did not set daily minimums of distance learning for students.
“We continue working to bring all students back to campus as soon as it is safe and responsible to do so. In the meantime, we must ensure our students continue to learn and make academic progress,” Superintendent Cindy Marten said in a statement.
And…
The school day will involve up to six hours of distance learning to mimic a normal, in-person school day as much as possible, said Andrew Sharp, district spokesman.
And…
San Diego Unified School Board President John Lee Evans said the district included these minimums of instruction time because many parents told the district they wanted more instruction than in the spring.
“We heard from parents pretty commonly that not enough was provided in the spring… it was very, very inconsistent,” Evans said. “So we wanted to provide a better structure and we wanted to cover the full curriculum.”
He said the schedule doesn’t mean students will have screen time for six hours a day. Teachers will be required to provide three hours of live instruction every day, but not all of that live instruction has to be for all students; some of that can be small-group instruction.
Evans also noted the district will conduct teacher evaluations this school year, unlike in the spring, which he says will hold teachers accountable for the distance learning they provide.
And…
Unlike in the spring, schools will have to provide direct IEP services live, according to students’ IEP hours and needs, according to the tentative agreement. An IEP is a student’s special education plan.
“Special education is something that we’re all very worried about,” Marten said in an interview.
And…
San Diego Unified’s rules for distance learning this fall are stricter than they were in the spring partly because the state has several new distance learning requirements for this school year that are outlined in the state budget.
Among them: Schools have to take attendance daily, students must have daily live interaction with an educator and schools must write a plan on how to reach students who don’t show up for distance learning for at least 60 percent of the school week. Schools must also ensure that every student has internet access and a device to complete school work.
San Diego Unified will start school on Aug. 31 with at least one week of distance learning. It will announce on Aug. 10 more details on when the district considers it safe to reopen.
The district cannot bring students back in-person until San Diego County lowers its COVID case rate to 100 per 100,000 people or below for at least two consecutive weeks. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced two weeks ago that public and private schools cannot reopen until their counties stay off the state’s COVID watch list for at least two weeks.
District Deeds Synopsis and Commentary:
Congratulations to the SDUSD San Diego Education Association (SDEA) Teachers Union!
You have done a masterful job of totally dominating your negotiations with the weak and inept SDUSD Elementary School Superintendent Cindy Marten and politically manipulated Board of Education Trustees led by corrupt Trustee Richard “Tricky Dick” Barrera!
In the new agreement with the SDUSD, the SDEA has essentially allowed every teacher to be limited to THREE FIFTHS of the work required in the established contract and still receive FULL SALARY with NO EVALUATIONS!
District Deeds says:
WOW…Great Job!!!
You have earned every nickle of the SDUSD Teacher Union Dues!
Ms. Taketa wrote:
Teachers will be required to work full workdays, hold office hours and arrange small-group instruction.
However, when SDUSD Stakeholders dig into the details, TWO FIFTHS of the Teacher daily work is called “asynchronous”.
Here are the details.
In the existing SDUSD/SDEA contract, here is the description of a work day:
Section 8.5: WORKDAY AND WORKWEEK
The District and the Association recognize the principle of an eight (8) hour unit member workday, and a forty (40) hour workweek for persons employed on a full-time basis during the regular school year.
8.5.1. Full-time classroom teachers shall be required to remain on site for a minimum of six (6) hours and thirty-five (35) minutes a day, exclusive of a duty-free lunch period. The duty-free lunch period shall be a minimum of thirty (30) minutes. (See Appendix H for part-time certificated assignments.)
8.5.2. The Parties recognize that the services performed by non-classroom certificated staff such as Counselors, Library Media Teachers, School Nurses and similar non-classroom positions contribute substantially to the instructional program and may require that services be provided outside of the six (6) hour and thirty-five (35) minute day but within the forty (40) hour week. The Parties also recognize that unit members’ morale and collegiality requires that work hours be as equitable as possible. (See Appendix H for part-time certificated assignments.)
An excellent agreement for the Teachers. 40 hours/week, 8 hours/day mandatory, around 6.5 hours of LIVE instructional time per day for 180 instructional work days…approximately 9 months of work per year. The average salary for a San Diego Teacher is $62,551 according to Salary.com.
Great job by the SDEA!
But this year it will get even better!
The NEW agreement for the SDUSD/SDEA provided by Ms. Taketa is the following:
3. Instructional Minutes (Elementary and Secondary): For the 2020-2021 school year, the school day shall include a minimum of three-hundred and sixty (360) minutes of synchronous and asynchronous learning for students coordinated between administrators and educators as follows:
a. Two-hundred and forty (240) minutes that will be a combination of both synchronous and asynchronous learning and independent work for students as follows:
i. One hundred and eighty (180) minutes of teaching and shall include live online whole group and small group instruction daily. The division of instructional time between whole group and small group instruction shall be determined based on the needs of students. Educators shall build daily whole group instruction into their schedules.
1. For elementary, synchronous learning shall be in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, and VAPA.
2. Elementary preparation time shall occur during the above mentioned one-hundred and eighty (180) minutes of instructional time.
3. For the 2020-2021 school year, the secondary school teacher schedule shall be capped at no more than three (3) teaching periods per school day.
Let’s do the math!
Existing SDUSD/SDEA Agreement:
“six (6) hour and thirty-five (35) minute day” (300 minutes of teaching)
Teaching (5) 55 minute classes live with one hour prep period.
NEW Distance Learning SDUSD/SDEA Agreement:
“i. One hundred and eighty (180) minutes of teaching”
“3. For the 2020-2021 school year, the secondary school teacher schedule shall be capped at no more than three (3) teaching periods per school day.”
WOW!!!
3 hours per day vs 5 hours per day of live teaching.
3 periods per day vs 5 periods per day of live teaching.
The SDEA negotiators CRUSHED the incompetent SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten negotiators and REALLY got payback for their extensive political financial and endorsement contributions from Trustees Tricky Dick Barrera, Empty Suit Evans and District E Turncoat Major Payne.
The SDUSD attempts to cover up this travesty by using “eduspeak”, a diversion to trick the press, parents, and other SDUSD Stakeholders into thinking ” That means students will have a six-hour school day that includes daily video conferencing with a teacher.”
Obviously 3 hours of live teaching is not a “six-hour school day” and does not come close to “mimic a normal, in-person school day” as Martens’ hand picked, dangerous propagandist, “Body washed up on shore” Andrew Sharp claimed.
The key “eduspeak” phrase is “asynchronous learning”.
We ask our readers…
What would YOU call carrying out projects and assignments by a student by themselves without a teacher present?
To scam SDUSD Stakeholders and the Press, Superintendent Cindy Marten, her henchman Sharp, the senior staff White Woman Mafia and Tricky Dick Barrera with his Trustee subordinates call it “Asynchronous Learning”.
District Deeds calls it something more understandable and used by virtually every person on earth….
It is called HOMEWORK!
Out of the “three-hundred and sixty (360) minutes of synchronous and asynchronous learning” only “One hundred and eighty (180) minutes of teaching and shall include live online whole group and small group instruction daily“.
How does that “mimic a normal, in-person school day” as Sharp says?
The simple District Deeds answer is:
5 Cinnochios
It doesn’t “mimic a normal, in-person school day” because there is no way that 3 hours of live teaching can imitate 5 hours of live teaching in any way.
If that was the case then the district could FIRE two fifths of the Teachers and substitute “Asynchronous Learning” in their place and could “mimic’ Student education and save BILLIONS of dollars!!!
Does this “mimic” help “ensure our students continue to learn and make academic progress” as incompetent Superintendent Cindy Marten says?
The simple District Deeds answer is:
5 Cinnochios
This typical response by the incompetent Marten is her favorite way to mislead ALL SDUSD Stakeholders to cover up her scams.
We ask our readers:
Did the educationally disastrous 2020 SDUSD Sandimic where Students permanently lost 59 Instructional Days “ensure our students continue to learn and make academic progress”.
In the loosest interpretation of that misleading statement by Marten, the answer would be Yes, “students continue to learn and make academic progress” despite losing 59 instructional days.
However it is clear it was an educational disaster and the “learn and make academic progress” lie by Marten to intentionally mislead Stakeholders for the 2020/2021 school year is despicable.
One last thing that totally eliminates any and all educational accountability for the SDUSD and the SDEA is the elimination of all Teacher Evaluations (and standardized testing so far) from the 2019/2020 school year and also for the 2020/2021 school year until a “later, mutually determined, date” as illustrated by the following NEW agreement language:
13. Evaluations:
a. Evaluations in progress during the 2019-2020 school year, but were not
completed, shall not be continued into the 2020-2021 school year, with the
exception of remediation plans as outlined in section 14.6.3 and special
evaluations that are being continued from an evaluation started in 2019-2020 as outlined in section 14.9 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
b. The Parties agree to discuss the evaluations process in the online learning setting during the 2020-2021 school year at a later, mutually determined, date.
A large number of SDUSD Principals have verified that they have been commanded by the Marten White Woman Mafia to NOT begin or proceed on ANY Teacher evaluations this coming school year.
THAT’S RIGHT…NO TEACHER EVALUATIONS!
In this election campaign payoff to the SDEA by the incompetent Marten and Tricky Dick Barrera, a SDUSD First Grade Student will be evaluated and graded MORE than a Teacher making $62,551 for live teaching 3 hours a day, 9 months out of the year!!!
One last “shout out” goes to to the President of the San Diego Unified Parent Teacher Association, Ms. Mahogany Taylor whose organization annually rakes in thousands of dollars in dues from the neediest families in the neediest school sites that don’t have the wealth and influence to create School Foundations.
Apparently Ms. Taylor “had a seat at the table” as a surrogate of actual parents who were denied that access. The SDUSD Propaganda Release characterizes Ms. Taylor position as believing “parents will also be pleased with the details of the new online learning plan.”
Thanks Ms. Taylor…we are sure that the Teachers part of your PTA are “pleased” also and appreciate it!!! We are sure the SDUSD Leadership also appreciates it and will expedite the renewals of all your upcoming SDUSD School Site agreements in 2020/2021!
The MOST horrible fact is that the same neediest Students and Families who cannot afford Foundations, PTA dues, private tutoring, learning pods and other educational supports will BE PERMANENTLY DAMAGED by this “agreement”
SDUSD Corruption Personified!!!
Next stop:
The No Mercy Marten/Tricky Dick 2020/2021 Educational Sandimic!
Now for our Quote of the Week:
“To oppose corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism.” ―
#MARTENSGOTTAGO
#BARRERASGOTTAGO
#PAYNESGOTTAGO
__________________________________________________________
IF
- Your family has been injured by the San Diego Unified School District, go to the District Deeds Complaint Forms page to find instructions to fight for your Civil Rights!
- YOU ARE TIRED OF THE COVER UPS AND LIES BY SUPT. CINDY MARTEN…
Please Click the Link Below and sign the Petition Today and READ the COMMENTS to Support the REMOVAL of Marten by SDUSD Stakeholders!
District Deeds 
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