"San Antonio School District trustees unveiled a radical proposal Monday to combine prekindergarten through eighth grade into single academies for the next school year." Oh, man! For those of you not from SA, let's make it clear--SASD doesn't control all the schools in San Antonio. It seems like they control all the low-performing ones. We've got North Side ISD, North East ISD, etc. etc. So, as usual, this radical experimentation will take place on the poorest segment of the population. Looks like there are two aims here. First is the age-old drive for smaller class sizes, more parent participation, and...

Hmm..."The reorganization is among Olivárez's initiatives to address a drop in performance when students move from elementary to middle school.

"Social problems such as teen pregnancy, discipline and truancy also tend to pick up during the middle school years." Wow, this should win awards for some of the cloudiest thinking ever. They're going to do away with middle schools because that's when kids start screwing up. But, um, that's also sorta when kids, by nature, start to get a little screwed up. I have a feeling that traditionally that's why these three years are set aside for 12- to 14-year-olds (thereabouts).

We'll watch, and shake our heads, and hope they don't ruin too many futures before they change course. I hope I'm wrong, but SASD is sort of a rotten idea factory. Even if it's a good idea they'll find a way to ruin it.