Teachers need to work with district - Marin IJ Editorial - July 6, 2006

Teachers need to work with districtMarin IJ Editorial
July 6 2006

IT WAS UNFORTUNATE to see a representative of teachers in the Sausalito Marin City School District unload on its school board.

Some teachers were upset by the IJ's three-day series on the troubled district, claiming the stories blamed them for poor academic performance by students.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but reversing the district's pattern of poor academic achievement is going to take less fingerpointing and more collaboration.

A representative of the teachers said the faculty has been shut out of attempts to improve classroom instruction, including the school board's "Vision 900" plan that calls for academic achievement on a par with Marin's top-scoring schools.

That's an ambitious goal for this small district.

Trustee Whitney Hoyt, who stepped down this year as middle school principal in Mill Valley, pointed out that the Sausalito Marin City School District should not have students reading far below grade level while also having such small class sizes.

She is right.

District teachers bear some of the responsibility. So does the school board and district administration. So do the parents of the students and district residents.

Vision 900 is a lofty goal, but one that is meant to push the district and student performance in the right direction.

There's no question that district trustees have deliberately set the bar very high. Now they need to work closely with the faculty, parents and the community to make methodical progress toward that goal.

Casting blame rather than taking responsibility and working together is going to keep the district from making headway. Everyone involved needs to stay focused on the most important objective - improving the academic achievement of the district's young students.