IN THE NEWS: Schools Urged to Get Creative with Stimulus Dough

As money from the federal stimulus bill trickles out to schools in San Diego County, districts are being urged to devise new and innovative reforms -- a sticky prospect for schools that have been squarely focused on the dismal business of simply staying intact.

Such dollars are "a huge opportunity," said David Plank, executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education, an independent research group. "But the devil's bargain was that it could only happen at a time when schools were under such duress that their enthusiasm for innovation -- however intense it was to begin with -- is greatly reduced." READ MORE FROM THE VOICE OF SAN DIEGO.