In Our Opinion
How it Looks From the Rivers

Forks of Salmon Elementary School District, a K-8 school, is located in the remote, isolated mountains of Northern California.  We are a one teacher/principal school with two part time aides and 13 students.  We have students in special education, Title I (a program designed to assist students testing below a certain level on standardized tests or with obvious need), and GATE (Gifted and Talented Education).  We have a part time administrator.

 No Child Left Behind (NCLB).   Perhaps you have heard of this educational program President Bush and the Republican Congress has pushed through and about it’s alleged benefits to education.  Perhaps we should examine this legislation and what it really means to education and our children.  This program seems to have been designed to bring an end to public education, if not, that may be the result. 

 This Federal Education Law forces the “one-size-fits-all” approach to learning.  Clearly our small schools in Siskiyou County don’t fit this mold,  size-wise or student learning- wise.  The NCLB act promised infusions of federal money and was subsequently under funded, but requires the state’s already impacted budget to meet the new requirements. The effect was immediate.  Our tiny school lost $20,000 in Federal Funding for Title I in the 2003-2004 budget year.  NCLB negatively impacts direct service to our students and  our general fund, to the extent that our ability to operate our facilities is threatened.  At the very least a $10,000 minimum entitlement would have saved vital services to students in our isolated school setting.

No Child Left Behind funds entitlements for technology.  Our small school qualified for $59.00 this year, not enough to replace more than one mouse for one computer.  Again a $7000.00 minimum for small schools would help us to stay competitive in the technology field and give our students opportunities or otherwise be left in the dark ages.

 No Child Left Behind raises high expectations for achievement and imposes stringent measures of accountability on students, teachers, and schools.  We are left with standardized government tests and accountability issues with out providing, much less improving, the resources needed to make school successful. 

 Partial funding, coupled with full accountability, is a recipe for failure. 

 To meet the stringent AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) teachers are forced to “teach to the test” overlooking learning styles and materials that teach children how to discover and think, not simply how to answer.  The federal sanctions for failure on standardized government tests begin with disruptive shifting of students from school to school further degrading the community school.

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