No Child Left Behind” was a promise made by President George W. Bush in the early 2000s, pledging academic success for all children in our nation. Unfortunately, in California, this promise hasn’t come to fruition. Black and Latino students consistently score far lower than their white and Asian peers on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) tests, demonstrating that our leaders haven’t done enough to counter systemic differences in our educational system. Support systems in our schools are crucial to ensuring that minority students have the same opportunities and success as their peers.

In California, 61.80 percent of white students meet or exceed reading standards, and 51.01 percent meet or exceed them on CAASPPtesting. Minority students, however, score far lower. Only 39.47 percent of Latinx students exceeded standards in English, and 34.21 percent of students met or exceeded standards during CAASPP testing. According to CAASPP data, significant gaps exist between students based on race, something that must be addressed.

Even in our own district, white students are 26 percent more likely to meet or exceed standards in English than their Latinx peers. This gap only lowers slightly to 20 percent in math. Nine percent of Black students meet or exceed standards for math in our district.

Yet, last year, even as school board Trustees stressed over test scores, they simultaneously cut funding for two educators running a program called the Hub to support Black students at Tamalpais High School, the school that houses around 50 percent of the Tamalpais Union High School District’s (TUHSD) Black students. The Hub at Tam is a drop-in tutoring and mentorship center that provides support for Black students who don’t see themselves represented at the school. Developing support systems, like the Hub at Tam, is crucial to supporting minority students. According to former superintendent Taupier, one semester with the Hub led to a 17 percent reduction in Ds, Fs, and Is, and a five percent reduction in chronic absenteeism at Tam.

Students testified that they felt more welcome at the school and better supported for success under the two educators and with the Hub. Teachers testified that the educators and the Hub were successful, saying they saw excellence from Black students they had never seen before.

With this in mind, board members still voted three to two to cut the Black educators’ contracts, leaving Black students without a consistent support system. While one board member claimed to have different data, data from then-superintendent Tara Taupier showed that the amount of D, F and I (incomplete) letter grades for Black students decreased significantly (by about 80 percent, thanks to the two educators). While CAASPP scores did not immediately rise for Black students at Tamalpais High during the 2024-25 school year, it’s likely that over time, scores would’ve risen thanks to a consistent support system.

Research has consistently found that minority students may feel unwelcome at school, making learning more difficult. At Tam, before the implementation of the Hub, many Black students felt isolated and unwelcome.

“When I started at Tamalpais [High School,] I felt a sense of isolation. All students should be able to come to school and feel like they’re at a second home,” Tamalpais junior Shania Valentine said. “I feel like I finally found a place to call home at Tam [with the Hub].”

Many students, like Valentine, testified that their educational experiences had improved, leading to better grades and greater academic success with the Hub.

As schools locally and statewide look for solutions to falling test scores, spaces like the Hub offer relatively low-cost and simple solutions to complex issues facing our schools.