This is the fourth article in a series concerning the health of the community and obstacles we must over come in today's changing environment as it applies to us personally in Clay County.

Just what today's student wants to hear. MORE SCHOOL. Yep, change is affecting our students most of all. We adults may have to learn to talk to computers when we call our insurance company or department store but the changes in our world have affected our student population the most. If they don't get the encouragement from us to embrace the changes, they will truly be left behind the pack who are part of tomorrow's society.

In the past 10-20 years the importance of investing more time to educate today's student has really come to the surface. From head start preschool programs, all day Kindergarten, more classes per day in high school, all the way to more people going for degrees beyond the bachelor's. Benefits to kids who have had all day kindergarten show up right away in first grade. They are more prepared to advance at a faster pace in order to keep up with the rigorous level of education they will need at higher levels. Kids who don't have the benefit of all day Kindergarten are already behind their competitors for future jobs by the time they are in first grade! That makes the rest of their educational career a game of catch up! What happens when their entire school corporation is also operating under organization that is outdated? Unfortunately we know the answer to this as it is right here in our high school….The performance of Northview and its students is getting farther and farther behind the rest of the state year after year!!!

The question is why does the school board and corporation administration continue to let this happen when they know about it?

Remember that teacher contract? Remember how outdated the health insurance portion is? Remember that it will remain in effect until another contract is agreed upon?

Not only was that contract set up without thought to the future economy and health care costs, it wasn't set up with current educational changes in mind.

While other counties in the state have been able to add on an extra period of instruction at the high school level, we have not. The corporation knew that this was necessary years ago and put in place the "early bird" class as a TEMPORARY stop gap measure until the contract could be negotiated to add either extra teachers or extra teaching periods to the day.

Does Early bird really work? In my opinion, no. Sure it works sometimes for the wealthier kids at the higher socioeconomic level of our community but is it really available to the others who may really need that opportunity the most? A bigger NO. To attend early bird classes, the student must have transportation to school. Either a parent, car, or friend, who can drive them to school so he can be sitting in the class room ready to learn at 7:30 AM. So those with moms at home or with parents with positions that allow them to arrive at work by 8AM or later, or have the ability to own and operate an extra vehicle can do this. Then there is the younger sibling issue. What about those who cannot leave the house until the bus comes as it would leave little brother or sister home alone? Is this socially responsible, fair, or even legal? Each one of us must search inside themselves in order to answer this question.

Should the teachers be asked to give up more time to add on an extra teaching period in order to more fairly and completely educate our students? Yes, but I say this as it would be irresponsible for the corporation not to ask. What is a harder question to answer is can the teachers be expected to agree to it when it is not able to provide more compensation than the increased health care costs that are hidden in the existing contract.

In the meantime, I urge you to go to your children who are going to be attending high school in the fall and insist that they take early bird classes. It is imperative to do this so that they will be in the running with the competition for better paying jobs. They are letting opportunities pass them by if they are going to study hall and not taking 7 classes. Whether they are college bound [and ALL should be thinking about this goal as theirs now a days] or not. We have paid for their schooling in our land taxes or rent checks. We are throwing away what we've already spent as well as throwing a portion of our childrens' futures away if we don't take full advantage of what's being offered. I don't care of they tell you they hate school. They don't have to like it: it's their job. It will give them more choices in the future that they aren't even aware of now.

If you think that early bird is out of the question due to lack of transportation, ask your neighbor for help. This community is a strong one. If you think your neighbor needs help with this, offer it. If you can't find a solution, call the school and tell them that you can't get your son/daughter there. Maybe there's a teacher or another student going your way in the morning. Teachers aren't the enemy here. I've found that most are willing to go the extra mile so long as they're appreciated. It all goes back to investing in our community.

There is no way to predict how the next contract is going to play out over this situation but what we can't do is sit around and wait for something to happen. It's a cop out to sit back and complain about the teachers union or the school board. Each has a legitimate position. If you continue to do nothing by your actions you are saying that you don't care. Nothing will happen unless you do your part! You aren't powerless unless you permit yourself to be! Only many people working together can make change. You may feel that your part is too small to matter but together huge change can happen.

Get 'r' done!