'Blueprint' for San Diego Schools Draws Mixed Reactions

By Catherine Gewertz

A plan recently adopted for the San Diego schools that will overhaul the curriculum, lay off hundreds of classroom assistants, and swell the summer school ranks is creating waves of mixed reaction.

The package of measures is the brainchild of Superintendent Alan D. Bersin, a former federal prosecutor who had pledged to raise lagging student achievement when he took office a year and a half ago. His "Blueprint for Student Success" has won the endorsement of some prominent educators, but it has also prompted such ardent opposition that 3,000 people swamped the school board office, some carrying pickets and shouting, when the board met to approve it last month.

But Mr. Bersin stands by his plan. "For the first time, we will have a systemic and systematic approach to providing students and teachers with the supports they need to make enhanced student achievement more routinely the outcome in our district," he said...