San Diego school stories, reported from the ground up.
Good Schools For All is Voice of San Diego's education podcast, co-hosted by education reporter Will Huntsberry and editor-in-chief Scott Lewis. Its episodes come from the newsroom's reporting and cover a homeless student unenrolled over paperwork, a charter school scam, active shooter drills and a family choosing a school against the clock.
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Good Schools For All is Voice of San Diego's podcast about education, and it is built on the newsroom's own reporting. Its co-hosts are Will Huntsberry, an education reporter, and Scott Lewis, the outlet's CEO and editor-in-chief. Each episode pairs a host with the reporter or editor who did the legwork. It sounds like a story being briefed across a desk, with the follow-up questions a curious reader would ask. Lisa Halverstadt's story began with a call from a high school student whose younger sister had been unenrolled. The family was homeless and lived in the San Ysidro school district, in the southernmost part of San Diego. The 11-year-old spent five days out of school until a document from the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency let her return. The episode stays with the specifics: the paperwork, the missed days, and a girl trying to be tough through all of it. The charter school story swaps the chairs, with Scott asking the questions and Will explaining. Will frames the A3 case as a crime story, down to its own version of a suitcase full of cash, and then turns to the nonprofit's tax returns. Far more money came in than went out, and prosecutors say tens of millions were funneled into organizations owned by McManus and Schrock. Engagement editor Megan Wood takes on a more everyday problem. She sits with a family trying to choose a school against the clock, sorting through IB magnets, dual language immersion, Spanish, gardening, extra PE and the arts. One parent's wariness about Chromebooks leads to a bigger question: how does anyone decide what a good school is? The school safety episode looks at active shooter drills and at how the prospect of a shooting weighs on students and parents. It stays local, covering two East County school shootings in 2001, a surge in threats after Parkland and a 2018 threat at La Jolla High. The episode on predatory teachers carries the heaviest material: an eighth-grade history teacher's case, plus a warning about descriptions of sexual violence. Students in it describe a teacher whose touchiness earned him a nickname, and parents describe taking their concerns to administrators. Across all of these, the show keeps asking who is held responsible when a school or district fails a student. Nate John edits and mixes the show, and Will also writes an education newsletter, The Learning Curve.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants San Diego education news told through specific reported cases, and who is ready for hard subjects like school shootings and abuse alongside practical ones like choosing a school.
What sets it apart: It is hosted by Voice of San Diego's education reporter and its editor-in-chief, and each episode is a reporter's debrief built on tips, tax returns and the families involved. The focus stays on specific San Diego schools and districts, not on general education debate.
A podcast about education. Every episode, Voice of San Diego's Scott Lewis and Will Huntsberry bring you a new story about schools and the system that makes them work (or not). This season, we’ll have stories about a scam that cost California millions of dollars, what happens when a school stops feeling safe and the future of early education. Subscribe now to get every episode. We’re back from summer vacation Sept. 25th.
A sixth grader misses five school days over paperwork, and suddenly your interest in policy has a face.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A five-day absence shows how paperwork can turn homelessness into a school barrier.
Good Schools for All follows a paperwork problem that pushed an 11-year-old homeless sixth grader out of the San Ysidro school district, keeping the story close to the family and the cost of a system meant to protect students without stable housing.
A grounded look at how active shooter drills have become part of normal school life.
Good Schools for All examines active shooter drills as an ordinary part of school life, following how a threat once treated as too terrible to practice for has become woven into childhood.
A family weighs school-choice rules against the harder question of what a good school feels like.
Good Schools for All turns school choice into a timed test of judgment, following one family through San Diego Unified's choice window, charter applications, tours, and the pressure of making a call before the clock runs out.
A clear, human account of paperwork, pressure, and the unanswered question of where A3 went wrong.
Louise Rigney gives this charter-school scandal its clearest human shape: a teacher and principal asked to backdate student paperwork, sign for parents, fill in blanks, and help turn those forms into a $5 million state payout.
Lisa Halverstadt traces a Halloween call in San Ysidro, where an 11-year-old sixth grader was told she was unenrolled because her family lacked paperwork.
Voice of San Diego's "Good Schools for All" follows school safety through a one-year-old daycare drill, a 12-year-old student's routine, and a San Diego County grand jury report.
This episode explores the process of school choice in San Diego Unified, following one family's journey to find the best school for their child.
Good Schools for All, from Voice of San Diego, follows Will Hunsberry through the A3 online charter school case and the December 2017 paperwork Rigney carried in Riverside County.
Nothing in California's education code requires school districts to look into the work history of their teachers.
Good Schools for All reporter Will Huntsbury examines Porter Elementary, one of nearly 500 California schools rated red in most state-tracked categories.
New Voice of San Diego education reporter Will Huntsbury joins Scott Lewis and Laura Cohn for a back-to-school discussion of school oversight.
This episode discusses educational programs and initiatives in San Diego, including a library-based STEAM program and a charter school.
A podcast about education in San Diego, covering school systems, challenges, and innovations.
This episode discusses the benefits of San Diego Unified schools and includes sponsor messages.