Spend money in classrooms - Reader Forum - June 24, 2006 Marin IJ - By Nancy Segale of San Rafael

Spend money in classrooms
Saturday Readers Forum
By Nancy Segale of San Rafael
Marin IJ
June 24, 2006

I worked for the Sausalito Marin City School District for 13 years and it looks like things have not changed.
I'm tired of the press, administration and the school board always negatively pointing their fingers at the teachers.

This group of teachers remains the mainstay in many of these children's lives. These kids bring a lot of emotional baggage to school, yet the board sees fit to cut aide time drastically.

To have only one adult in a classroom deprives these kids of the emotional and academic support they desperately need. The amount of time a teacher actually spends teaching is greatly decreased.

I find it interesting that the new math teacher from Tamalpais High School brings six high school students to assist him. That sure says a lot!

Eighteen percent of the district budget is spent on administration, but it can't seem to find the funds to hire much-needed counselors at both Bayside and Martin Luther King Academy.

What has district trustee George Stratigos been doing the last eight years, dreaming up "Vision 900?" If he really wanted the children to succeed, he would put more adults in the classroom (not fewer), hire counselors, have a principal/vice principal onsite at all times and have a discipline policy that is firmly adhered to.

And while he and his cronies are at it, maybe he could cut back on the out-of-state conferences and weekend retreats.

I say, keep the money in the classroom!

Nancy Segale, San Rafael