No Child Left Behind vs. Push To The Top

TULELAKE, Calif– At the Tulelake School Board meeting there was discussion about not pushing students that excel or are being left behind because they are bored. While teachers are spending time with other students who are not up to the pace. There seems to be not enough Teachers’ aides to help the slow students. Who need more help with their reading, math and comprehension skills?

It was noted we live in a very diverse community and in the area of language arts they are falling short and behind. Title I money needs to be spent helping in these areas. It was suggested that maybe retired teachers and others in the community such as the elderly could volunteer their services to fill gaps. That would help teachers be able to spend more time teaching and pushing all students to the best of their abilities and capabilities with the much needed help in the classrooms in the extended day program. In-order to give teachers’ more time to do their job, so that all students could benefit from such a program like they do in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

There are people in the community that would be more than willing to help support such a program if they were only asked to step up and help. It would be a win, win situation for the Teachers, Teachers Aides, the schools, school administrators and the Tulelake Unified School District. The only question that comes to mind is who is going to pay for the Live Scans on the volunteers and who is going to pay for it.

In other areas of discussion the topic of being more sportsmen like at Basket Ball games by the teams, coaches and fans when referees are making calls that the teams, coaches and fans do not agree with and carried into the locker rooms. Where there were complaints of misbehavior by the coach’s, which was denied by the coaches in question. Both sides were calling each other misinformed and not telling the truth from the parents to the coaches in the Regular meeting of the Tulelake School Board.

Other areas of discussion included the forming of a hiring committee to form questions for the new applicants for Superintendent and High School Principal to be interviewed before the applicants meet with the Tulelake School Board for the final choice and hiring of the new Superintendent and High School Principal.

Discussing about how to keep the music program intact, with the feeling that music was part of the education process of students and beneficial in the areas of math and language skills.

It was also recommended that when purchasing supplies that the Tulelake School Board give local business the opportunity to sell them first to the School District. Where if the local businesses can beat the purchase prices then keep the purchases in house rather than use suppliers or vendors outside of the School District that are not as cost effective in order to cut and keep cost to the School District at a minimum.

Other areas of discussion was considering how “No Child Left Behind” compared with the new program being offered by the president called “Push to the Top” for students to excel in the areas of math and science.

There also was a discussion of the costs by coaches for pre-season games and cost being associated with it where the board felt the Coaches and Teams to share the costs for pre-season games and to look for ways to have more games during the regular season. The school board meeting started at 7:00 p.m. and completed around 11:00 p.m. when the Board went into closed session.

James Garland of Tulelake New Times (TNT)
Publisher, Editor and Writer
http://tulelakenews.blogspot.com/