January 7, 1965 (16 pages)

NEVADA COUNTY NUGGET EDITORIAL COUNTY SCHOOL UNIFICATION January 7, 1965 be ina position to put this into use for e general good of a unified district. Itis this leveling of financial inequities that is one of the major objecWILL PERMIT BETTER EDUCATION tions tounification and state efforts to FOR EACH DOLLAR SPENT ‘Voters will be asked to decide next month whether or not they want to see the schools in the western end of the county joined into one unified school district. 3 We urge the voters to approve the -unification. proposal when they go to the polls Feb. 16. The reasons for this position are many and varied but first and foremost on the list is the fact that a unified school systemwill bring about a better and more continuous program of schooling for all students. The unified school district: will be able to attract more able teachers and will be able to offer a continuity and uniformity of educational program from . grades one through 12. At the present time there are many ‘able teachers working in the various school districts in the county, but obtaining good teachers for some of the smaller less wealthy districts becomes increasingly difficult. Under a unified system with one salary schedule, this problem will be alleviated. At the present time a loose course of study is recommended bv the county ‘superintendent of schools for all dais» tricts in the-county and it is followed for the most part by most districts, but there are differences in educational programs throughout the county and they show up most markedly when the students leave their own districts to go to junior high schoo]. Under a unified system almost all of these variances in educational programming would be » eliminated through a master study program for the entire district, a program in keeping withthe finest in curriculum advances. . Finally districts which now have more money than they can properly use would promote unification. . Under the amended Unruh Act passed in the last session of the legislature, definite rewards and punishments are set up for those who unify and those who do not. All counties must hold a unification election within a specified time. Those districts. which approve of unification will be eligible for an additional $15 per pupil in state funds. Those which vote down the proposition will not get this incentive and will also come under a county-wide school equalization tax to spread out the tax wealth. This plan has been called coercion and there can be little doubt that this is what it is. The state is attempting to create unified districts because it is feltthis is the best type of system. At the same time the state is'ttrying to eliminate situations in which one districtis fabulously wealthy and another next door is dirt poor. , Another big battle cry against unification is the loss of local control yet the unified board will be elected from the same trustee areas from which.:-the current high school board is elected. Years of study have gone into the plan for unification both on the state level and right here at-home by local members of the county committee on school ‘district organization. Both the: state and the local committee members feel that unification is the best answer for obtaining the greatest educational opportunity for students of the county for each dollar spent. We feel the same way and we urge the voters to vote yes on the unification proposal. 3 IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN SQUAW VALLEY DESERVES A PRIZE FOR BAD MANAGEMENT We saw beautiful Squaw Valley on the television coverage of the Olympics. We have heard about it ever since we moved to California. We have always wanted to go there and see this winter wonderland, We tried to get there last week and it will be a long time, if ever, that we try it again. This is a testimony to inefficiency and to the frustration of people whohad spent all year dreaming of spending the long New Years weekend skiing at Squaw and saw their dreams shot by bad management and stupidity on the part of the people operating this massive ski area, There are few skiers around who will disagree with the statement that Squaw Valley has one of the finest and most versatile skiing complexes in this part of our nation. : Every one of these same skiers will agree that all of this is useless if one is unable to reach the facilities. This was the case last week, A skier telephoning to Squaw was given a rosy:picture, Lifts were running and the snow was beautiful. Nothing was ever said about the road, but when the skier arrived he found a seemingly endless line of cars trying to get into the valley. The roads were only partly plowed and full of deep drop offs containing anywhere from three to 12 inches of icy water. One car would slip across the road and both lanes would be blocked. Then cars would try to escape by backing out the access road and they would become stuck or block traffic. The stock answer to all of this we are sure would be that last week was an exceptional one of extra ordinary snow storms, but the fact-of the matter is that snow is the business of a ski area and the managers should be prepared for it. The most striking example of the fallacy of this excuse is that Alpine Meadows, just a few miles down the road from Squaw was going full blast during the maddening tieups at the Valley. The reason for their success, and we wish them much more such success, is simply that they were prepared for the weather and were equipped and ready to cope with ~ any changing situation. Arrivals at Alpine Meadows were greeted on the main highway by an electronic sign telling snow conditions, which lifts were operating and whether chains were required, As one drove in the wide road he constantly met massive snow removal equipment all owned by the ski establishment which was working the day through to improve the conditions of the road, Asone neared the large parking area he was met by several men with two-way radios by which they kept check on the road-and traffic conditions, Cars were moved into the area quickly and courteously, All facilities were open with the exception of one chair lift which we assume was sensibly kept closed because of the high winds, It was a pleasure to go to and return from Alpine Meadows and we will surely return there again. Until Squaw Valley settles its problems, and there seem to be many, we will stay away, » ae Squaw Valley is owned by the state, leased to a private operator and the roads apparently are the responsibility of the county. * One simple method of avoiding all the distress at gg6t ‘L Arenuef***1083nN AiunoD epeAeN’** G) , Jee aie, . ee ee. es. = me: 2arar

NEVADA COUNTY NUGGET EDITORIAL COUNTY SCHOOL UNIFICATION January 7, 1965 be ina position to put this into use for e general good of a unified district. Itis this leveling of financial inequities that is one of the major objecWILL PERMIT BETTER EDUCATION tions tounification and state efforts to FOR EACH DOLLAR SPENT ‘Voters will be asked to decide next month whether or not they want to see the schools in the western end of the county joined into one unified school district. 3 We urge the voters to approve the -unification. proposal when they go to the polls Feb. 16. The reasons for this position are many and varied but first and foremost on the list is the fact that a unified school systemwill bring about a better and more continuous program of schooling for all students. The unified school district: will be able to attract more able teachers and will be able to offer a continuity and uniformity of educational program from . grades one through 12. At the present time there are many ‘able teachers working in the various school districts in the county, but obtaining good teachers for some of the smaller less wealthy districts becomes increasingly difficult. Under a unified system with one salary schedule, this problem will be alleviated. At the present time a loose course of study is recommended bv the county ‘superintendent of schools for all dais» tricts in the-county and it is followed for the most part by most districts, but there are differences in educational programs throughout the county and they show up most markedly when the students leave their own districts to go to junior high schoo]. Under a unified system almost all of these variances in educational programming would be » eliminated through a master study program for the entire district, a program in keeping withthe finest in curriculum advances. . Finally districts which now have more money than they can properly use would promote unification. . Under the amended Unruh Act passed in the last session of the legislature, definite rewards and punishments are set up for those who unify and those who do not. All counties must hold a unification election within a specified time. Those districts. which approve of unification will be eligible for an additional $15 per pupil in state funds. Those which vote down the proposition will not get this incentive and will also come under a county-wide school equalization tax to spread out the tax wealth. This plan has been called coercion and there can be little doubt that this is what it is. The state is attempting to create unified districts because it is feltthis is the best type of system. At the same time the state is'ttrying to eliminate situations in which one districtis fabulously wealthy and another next door is dirt poor. , Another big battle cry against unification is the loss of local control yet the unified board will be elected from the same trustee areas from which.:-the

current high school board is elected. Years of study have gone into the plan for unification both on the state level and right here at-home by local members of the county committee on school ‘district organization. Both the: state and the local committee members feel that unification is the best answer for obtaining the greatest educational opportunity for students of the county for each dollar spent. We feel the same way and we urge the voters to vote yes on the unification proposal. 3 IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN SQUAW VALLEY DESERVES A PRIZE FOR BAD MANAGEMENT We saw beautiful Squaw Valley on the television coverage of the Olympics. We have heard about it ever since we moved to California. We have always wanted to go there and see this winter wonderland, We tried to get there last week and it will be a long time, if ever, that we try it again. This is a testimony to inefficiency and to the frustration of people whohad spent all year dreaming of spending the long New Years weekend skiing at Squaw and saw their dreams shot by bad management and stupidity on the part of the people operating this massive ski area, There are few skiers around who will disagree with the statement that Squaw Valley has one of the finest and most versatile skiing complexes in this part of our nation. : Every one of these same skiers will agree that all of this is useless if one is unable to reach the facilities. This was the case last week, A skier telephoning to Squaw was given a rosy:picture, Lifts were running and the snow was beautiful. Nothing was ever said about the road, but when the skier arrived he found a seemingly endless line of cars trying to get into the valley. The roads were only partly plowed and full of deep drop offs containing anywhere from three to 12 inches of icy water. One car would slip across the road and both lanes would be blocked. Then cars would try to escape by backing out the access road and they would become stuck or block traffic. The stock answer to all of this we are sure would be that last week was an exceptional one of extra ordinary snow storms, but the fact-of the matter is that snow is the business of a ski area and the managers should be prepared for it. The most striking example of the fallacy of this excuse is that Alpine Meadows, just a few miles down the road from Squaw was going full blast during the maddening tieups at the Valley. The reason for their success, and we wish them much more such success, is simply that they were prepared for the weather and were equipped and ready to cope with ~ any changing situation. Arrivals at Alpine Meadows were greeted on the main highway by an electronic sign telling snow conditions, which lifts were operating and whether chains were required, As one drove in the wide road he constantly met massive snow removal equipment all owned by the ski establishment which was working the day through to improve the conditions of the road, Asone neared the large parking area he was met by several men with two-way radios by which they kept check on the road-and traffic conditions, Cars were moved into the area quickly and courteously, All facilities were open with the exception of one chair lift which we assume was sensibly kept closed because of the high winds, It was a pleasure to go to and return from Alpine Meadows and we will surely return there again. Until Squaw Valley settles its problems, and there seem to be many, we will stay away, » ae Squaw Valley is owned by the state, leased to a private operator and the roads apparently are the responsibility of the county. * One simple method of avoiding all the distress at gg6t ‘L Arenuef***1083nN AiunoD epeAeN’** G) , Jee aie, . ee ee. es. = me: 2arar