Education Partners

Union-Tribune Editorial
Education partners
SDSU, Sweetwater deal paying dividends

December 2, 2002

San Diego State University's innovative partnership with the Sweetwater Union High School District is the kind of connection that makes a significant difference in the lives of at-risk students.

The aptly named Compact for Success assures SDSU admission to Sweetwater seventh-graders who satisfy a series of scholastic standards for six consecutive years. That includes maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average in college preparatory classes and scoring well on state tests.

Created two years to give low-income Latino students in the South Bay an incentive to get a college education, the compact is already paying dividends. Sweetwater Union has raised $1.5 million in scholarship money for its students. But there is one drawback – students from San Ysidro are not included.

That's because in 1974, San Ysidro residents voted to remove their seventh-and eighth-graders from Sweetwater Union and keep them in the local school district until they go to high school. The upshot of this decision is that San Ysidro's kids are missing out on a great program.

That's a shame, because many of these students won't even get a high school diploma, let alone get into college. Fewer than half of San Ysidro residents have completed high school, and just 6 percent have earned four-year college degrees.

San Ysidro High School Principal Hector Espinoza should be frustrated that nearly all of his 537 ninth-graders are excluded from the compact. But until the district takes the initiative to be included, there isn't much that can be done to resolve this situation.

San Ysidro Superintendent Jose M. Torres took the initiative several months by holding exploratory talks with SDSU officials. But Torres was bounced by the school board last summer and the situation will remain in limbo until his successor in chosen. More distressing yet, the school district has not even begun a search for his replacement.

SDSU School of Education Dean Lionel "Skip" Meno seems amenable to doing a deal with San Ysidro. The key is getting a resourceful superintendent on board who will make this happen. That means committing to the higher academic standards that are central to the compact. If the district makes such a hire, Meno believes this year's sixth-graders could be eligible to participate in the program.

If San Ysidro school officials are serious about giving their middle-schoolers a shot at attending SDSU, they must find a superintendent who is committed to that objective.

The Compact for Success was designed to help ensure that South Bay students receive an education comparable to what is available to the students in more-affluent communities. San Ysidro's elementary students are no less deserving of that education than their counterparts in Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City who go to Sweetwater Union after completing the sixth grade.