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Education

San Diego School Board Back to Work

San Diego School Board Back to Work
It's the first day of the new school year for thousands of San Diego Unified students. The district's school trustees are also back at work today, trying to set educational goals for this year despite a possible superintendent change.

It's the first day of the new school year for thousands of San Diego Unified students. The district's school trustees are also back at work today, trying to set educational goals for this year despite a possible superintendent change.

The San Diego Unified school board holds a special workshop on setting multi-year goals for the district. School Superintendent Terry Grier has made goal-setting a big part of the district ever since he came on board more than a year ago.

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"Basically what it looks like is 30 percent of my children are reading on grade level. What is reasonable for the coming year?," Grier asks. "If we're at 30, well then how about 38 percent. And then the question has to be, what is causing this? Why are only 30 percent of kids only reading on grade level?"

Grier believes clearly defined academic goals led to an increase in student test scores last spring. Even so, he says roughly 60,000 San Diego students are still doing poorly in reading. Now the district may have to fix that and other academic problems without Grier. The superintendent is expected to leave San Diego to head-up Houston's public schools. He's expected to get a finalized contract from Houston's district this week.