| This
is going to be a good news - bad news report. The good news is that
the schools in the two districts are doing very well; the bad news
is that next year may be the most challenging yet as far as the state
budget goes and that will have an impact on everyone, including schools.
More unpleasant news is the No Child Left Behind legislation.
First the good news.
I am so proud of our students in every arena. They excel academically,
in athletics and in numerous extracurricular activities. Our young
people are just the best and we are privileged to have the opportunity
to be part of their lives. They make us proud every day.
All of the schools in Yosemite and Coarsegold districts raised their
Academic Performance Index scores during the 2002-03 year. Staff and
administrators worked hard to provide the direction needed for the
students to be successful. As always, the students rose to the challenge
and did what they needed to do.
High school students put in numerous hours of volunteer service, referred
to as service learning or community service. This year for the first
time we will be recognizing seniors at graduation for exemplary community
service. Graduates from all of our high schools will be eligible to
wear a special blue cord in recognition of meeting the requirements
for the Community Service Award. This new district program will give
all students an opportunity to distinguish themselves.
In a continuing effort to provide programs of interest to all students,
I will be asking the District Board of Trustees to approve a Cadet
Corp program for the district in December. It is our goal to offer
the Cadet Corp as an after school program starting next spring and
then to have it as a class in the Fall of 2004.
Now, the bad news.
The districts are both planning for a challenging year because the
state economy continues to be sluggish even though it is improving.
Next year may be the most challenging yet. We still may face mid-year
cuts as well that could have an impact during this current school
year.
We will continue to take a fiscally conservative approach yet, depending
on what happens at the state level, we may have to look at re-sizing
both districts next year. We have been fortunate so far and have not
had to take drastic measures. Many districts in the state have not
been so fortunate.
We will keep a close eye on the state’s fiscal condition and we’ll
carefully watch for new developments with the new leadership in Sacramento.
I am regularly attending meetings of the State Board of Education
to keep abreast of developments that may impact us here.
A prevalent concern that I share with educators throughout the country
is No Child Left Behind. It is driving education and I am still not
convinced that it is driving things in the right direction. I frequently
write letters to our representatives in Sacramento and Washington,
D.C. to express my concerns about this legislation. I’m sorry to report
that so far I have not had much response from anyone but I will continue
to point out what I believe are weaknesses in NCLB.
For example: We are graded, so to speak, through a system called Annual
Yearly Progress (AYP). This figure determines if a school is designated
as under performing. In order to receive a satisfactory AYP, 95 percent
of students must have tested. The High School Exit Exam is used as
the indicator and it cannot be made up if a student is ill on the
day it is given. The test is only administered once and it determines,
in large part, the fate of a school.
I believe California has to provide legislative relief to deal with
this discrepancy and it needs to be done sooner rather than later.
This discrepancy is just one of many concerns I have with NCLB. No
one in education is against accountability, however nearly everyone
in education is against unrealistic expectations that can only have
a negative impact on those outstanding students I wrote of so proudly
in the beginning of this article.
I promise to keep expressing my reservations about NCLB and I promise
that everyone in Coarsegold and Yosemite districts will continue to
work as hard as they can to keep our students among the best in the
state.
While we may disagree with parts of the federal legislation of No
Child Left Behind it has long been our commitment in local schools
to never leave a child behind and I believe we have been quite successful.
School
News Home
|
