Morning Report: Introducing the Acorn Awards
EM - News Moderator 
This week we are giving out a new set of recognitions, called the Acorn Awards, to highlight schools that outperform expectations on a metric comparing student income to test scores, which we developed in partnership with UC San Diego Extended Studies Center for Research and Evaluation.
We’ll do a story on each of our top winners this week.
First up: Edison Elementary. This school performed best among schools with the highest proportion of English-language learners.
Half of Edison’s students are English learners, and more than 95 percent qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Yet the school earned a score of 79 on our income vs. test score metric, meaning students perform far better than their family incomes would predict based on the distribution of test-score data in San Diego.
Principal Jamie Lee credits Edison’s success to its experienced teachers, a diverse and multilingual staff, and strong family involvement. The school also uses a biliteracy program to boost students’ fluency in both English and their home languages.
- More on schools: Our eighth edition of our Parents Guide to San Diego Schools is here — with more information and data than ever! Download your free copy today.
Rep. Sara Jacobs and Ammar Campa-Najjar on Iran
If Ammar Campa-Najjar wins his race to unseat Rep. Darrell Issa, he and U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs won’t be the first couple to ever serve in Congress at the same time. (They may be the first to start dating before they were in Congress.)
That doesn’t mean they’ll be on the same page on major issues. Both of them released statements this weekend about the attack on Iran. They struck very different notes, and not in the way you may assume, with Campa-Najjar’s background as a Palestinian-American and Jacobs as a person with deep ties to Israel.
Campa-Najjar, cautiously supportive: “My heart also goes out to the innocent civilians who were caught in the crosshairs of these latest strikes. With the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei confirmed, the Iranian people now have the opportunity to forge a future on their own terms, free from fear and tyranny.
“Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon. But sustained military action that bypasses meaningful diplomacy and congressional approval is not the answer and has never led to successful regime change.”
Jacobs, definitely not into it: “Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran will go down as one of the biggest foreign policy blunders in American history. He’s failed to learn from history that the United States has an abysmal track record of success for military adventures in the Middle East.”
She added: “Many of my colleagues are already trying to falsely justify these strikes as reasonable to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. This is a familiar hark back to the rhetoric before the Iraq War: exaggerating threats to justify armed intervention.
City Council Hearing on Empty-Home Tax Is Today
A new proposed ballot measure that would tax empty second homes is headed to a City Council vote today.
The tax is something of a political consolation prize. A more controversial tax that also included short-term vacation rentals died in committee last month.
It would impose an annual $8,000 tax on more than 5,000 largely unoccupied homes, plus a $4,000 surcharge for corporate-owned homes.
- Opinion: The tax is an easy win-win for San Diegans, write two housing advocates in a opinion piece for Voice. They argue the tax will incentivize many people to put their homes back on the market — either to rent or sell. And for those that don’t, they’ll be adding needed revenue to help the city beef up services. Read the full op-ed here.
San Diego’s ‘Bird Wizard’ Leaves Lasting Legacy
After more than 50 years at the San Diego Natural History Museum, longtime curator of birds and mammals Phil Unitt has retired.
Unitt began volunteering at the museum at age 17 and never left, eventually becoming the department’s top curator and chair of ornithology, our MacKenzie Elmer writes.
He can identify nearly any local bird by ear alone and helped document more than 500 species for San Diego County’s first bird atlas.
He cautions that those AI-powered birdsong apps often get it wrong, sharing with Elmer that he hopes people will take the time to admire wildlife, learn by doing and stay connected to the natural world.
Read the Environment Report here.
San Diego Housing Commission Lays Off Staff
The San Diego Housing Commission — a critical housing arm of city government — laid off 33 employees on Friday.
SDHC president and CEO Lisa Jones said the commission took a variety of steps to address its financial challenges, but was ultimately forced to make reductions.
“We know this is a difficult time for each of them,” wrote Jones in a statement. “We care about them and are offering a variety of assistance to help them through this transition. This action will help SDHC be able to continue our core services in the years to come.”
It’s unclear what positions were eliminated, but Jones said approximately 60 percent of the positions were supervisory level positions or above. An additional 25 positions are also vacant and being eliminated.
In Other News
- Encinitas announced last month that it would stop selecting people from its 1,137-person waitlist for Section 8 Housing vouchers to receive housing assistance due to lack of funding. The city of San Diego and San Diego County have also closed their waitlists. (inewsoure)
- A judge has postponed the next scheduled hearing in the state Attorney General’s lawsuit against Rady Children’s Hospital for deciding to stop offering gender-affirming care because of pressure from the federal government. The postponement means Rady must continue gender care in the meantime. (Union-Tribune)
- After more than three years of work, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s new elephant habitat will open to the public this Thursday. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Tigist Layne, Scott Lewis and Mariana Martínez Barba. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.
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