Six years ago, when Alan Bersin became superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, he began to implement his "Blueprint for Student Success," a series of reforms aimed at dramatically improving student achievement. The local teacher union promptly and predictably howled, but until November the school board backed Bersin (3-2). (Click here for more.) Shortly after the most recent election shifted that balance of power, the union began pressing the new board to reverse course on the controversial reforms and run Bersin out of town. Now it appears the union may finally get its way. Earlier this week, the board met to discuss the possibility of buying out Bersin's contract, which is scheduled to end June 30, 2006. Despite marked achievement gains in the district, especially in early literacy, notwithstanding that there is no plan in place to replace him, and no matter that Bersin has already said he'll leave his post when his contract is up, the board is moving forward. In fact, according to the San Diego Union Tribune, it's "close to engineering a settlement for an early exit of the superintendent" and may pull the plug on Thursday.
"Bersin's position hangs in the balance," by Maureen Magee and Helen Gao, San Diego Union Tribune, January 26, 2005
"S.D. school board is scheduled to discuss Bersin contract buyout," by Helen Gao and Maureen Magee, San Diego Union Tribune, January 25, 2005