Gone With the Wind


Articles Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine Other Authors Contact Us! Letter to the Editor Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine	Gone With the Wind Arthur Dent and Thomas Paine In the last fiscal year, San Mateo County schools received over $7.4 million in money intended to improve student achievement. Jefferson Union High School District received exactly none of that money. Couldn't fill out a form. Couldn't ascertain eligibility. Couldn't be bothered. How on earth did this happen? According to State law, each school must have its own Schoolsite Council, a steering committee composed of the principal, teachers elected by other teachers, students elected by other students, and parents elected by other parents. This Schoolsite Council exists to examine weaknesses in test scores within the school and develop three goals to address said weaknesses. The goals must pertain to boosting test scores, as they are an indicator of school-wide education. Subcommittees then develop action plans to help the school meet its goals - plans funded by many sources, the primary of which is State-issued School Improvement Program (SIP) money. In schools throughout California, this money funds programs which benefit millions. That's how it should work. Here's how it has worked at Terra Nova. Up until this January, the Schoolsite Council was comprised of teachers, parents, and students who were not elected. They were, instead, selected by Dr. Kazakoff and told that their job was, essentially, to smile and nod. The council primarily rubber-stamped proposals that Kazakoff introduced, not because they didn't care to know more, but because they were told that they didn't need to know more. According to one member of the 2001-02 council, "We were told it was only about money - just to suggest how to spend - never about the plan." The body was, for lack of a better term, a puppet. Although the aforementioned "three goals" were supposed to be set by the Council, Kazakoff alone compiled them. They were not specific, developed by a council, or focused on test scores. These problems did not result from the aspirations of an evil and power-hungry dictator; they resulted from the simple ignorance of a man who didn't know any better. Action plan? Didn't exist. Oh…and that SIP money? JUHSD never saw it - the district didn't bother to look into it. Didn't have the time. Didn't know they were supposed to. Just plain didn't. JUHSD passed up the opportunity to bring in as much as $500,000 a year for educational reforms simply because the district-level administrators assumed that they didn't have access to the money. Terra Nova High School lost out on approximately $150,000 a year for the past three years because people who make about $150,000 per year didn't do their jobs. And the worst part is that, according to assistant Superintendent Gary Johnson, there is "no way to retroactively change the funding eligibility." We missed our chance, and now there's no money left. The irony of it all is that Terra Nova finally has a fully-compliant Schoolsite Council, complete with specific goals and fledgling action plans, but now we have no way to fund those plans. Test scores have gone down the past two years, and if things don't change TN risks State intervention. We now have an elected council who wants to make significant changes…so where's the money? Gone with the wind…and a budget deficit.	Archive Back Issues Why? Cartoons Poetry Random Rants Disclaimers Losers and Kudos of the Week Letters to the Editor Editor's Notes Picture of the Week
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Arthur Dent and Thomas Paine

In the last fiscal year, San Mateo County schools received over $7.4 million in money intended to improve student achievement. Jefferson Union High School District received exactly none of that money. Couldn't fill out a form. Couldn't ascertain eligibility. Couldn't be bothered. How on earth did this happen?

According to State law, each school must have its own Schoolsite Council, a steering committee composed of the principal, teachers elected by other teachers, students elected by other students, and parents elected by other parents. This Schoolsite Council exists to examine weaknesses in test scores within the school and develop three goals to address said weaknesses. The goals must pertain to boosting test scores, as they are an indicator of school-wide education. Subcommittees then develop action plans to help the school meet its goals - plans funded by many sources, the primary of which is State-issued School Improvement Program (SIP) money. In schools throughout California, this money funds programs which benefit millions.

That's how it should work.

Here's how it has worked at Terra Nova. Up until this January, the Schoolsite Council was comprised of teachers, parents, and students who were not elected. They were, instead, selected by Dr. Kazakoff and told that their job was, essentially, to smile and nod. The council primarily rubber-stamped proposals that Kazakoff introduced, not because they didn't care to know more, but because they were told that they didn't need to know more. According to one member of the 2001-02 council, "We were told it was only about money - just to suggest how to spend - never about the plan." The body was, for lack of a better term, a puppet.

Although the aforementioned "three goals" were supposed to be set by the Council, Kazakoff alone compiled them. They were not specific, developed by a council, or focused on test scores. These problems did not result from the aspirations of an evil and power-hungry dictator; they resulted from the simple ignorance of a man who didn't know any better.

Action plan? Didn't exist. Oh…and that SIP money? JUHSD never saw it - the district didn't bother to look into it. Didn't have the time. Didn't know they were supposed to. Just plain didn't. JUHSD passed up the opportunity to bring in as much as $500,000 a year for educational reforms simply because the district-level administrators assumed that they didn't have access to the money. Terra Nova High School lost out on approximately $150,000 a year for the past three years because people who make about $150,000 per year didn't do their jobs. And the worst part is that, according to assistant Superintendent Gary Johnson, there is "no way to retroactively change the funding eligibility." We missed our chance, and now there's no money left.

The irony of it all is that Terra Nova finally has a fully-compliant Schoolsite Council, complete with specific goals and fledgling action plans, but now we have no way to fund those plans. Test scores have gone down the past two years, and if things don't change TN risks State intervention. We now have an elected council who wants to make significant changes…so where's the money? Gone with the wind…and a budget deficit.