Local Schools

By Dave Custodio

Our Bay Point Schools are some of the lowest performing schools in the Mt. Diablo School District. President Bush underfunded his "No Child Left Behind" by 27 billion dollars. California would have gotten about 3 billion. Bay Point children (and schools) are left behind. We can't do much, but we can do something.

FIRST--As local citizens there is little we can do, but there is one thing, if we try, that we CAN do. We can get traffic crossing guards, or at least speed bumps, in front of our schools. The Mt. Diablo School District does not provide traffic guards. So far, the county has not seen its way clear to protect our children from traffic, even though it spends several million a year to "protect" us from terrorists. The Feds granted 1.2 million to Contra Costa last year for that purpose. The County should protect us from real dangers first, imagined ones later. In any event, refineries and other interests can protect themselves, we need not protect them.

SECOND-- We should recognize that the Mt. Diablo District will not build us a high school. Funding is a problem. We must begin to think about assessing ourselves, that is, increasing our property tax with a special district. If we want a school we must build it ourselves. Even though the median household income of Bay Point lags the county by $14,000 ($50,000 vs. $64,000), if we want a High School we'll have to build it ourselves, or at least begin. I think we can do it.