Vol. 5, No. 20
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August 15, 2008
Nevada's Online State News Journal-- Serving Informed Nevadans Since 2003
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COPYWRITING
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Nevada’s Education System
Still In The Basement
It’s Time For Re-Evaluation
Of Entire Department
by Johnny Gunn
When comparing Nevada’s educational standards against the rest of the nation, the Silver State children are at a serious disadvantage, and it cannot be simply blamed on money or a lack thereof. There must be problems within the education system itself in order to produce children whose education is below any national average. For there to be an average, there must be some states that are doing very well by their children. Nevada is not doing well by its children, and in the long run, more than just the children will be suffering. The economic stability of the state is at risk as well since today’s world demands a highly educated work force. Technologically advanced companies will not open for business in an area that cannot provide an educated work force. That is the reality of what the state’s education system is working toward.
In the school year 2007-08, there were 412,395 students enrolled in Nevada’s schools according to the U.S. Department of Education. Of these, more than 41 percent came from what the agency considers low income homes. Nevada is a minimum wage state at best if you believe these statistics. According to the latest figures available, there are 559 schools in the state of which almost 33 percent are considered less than adequate by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The national average for school districts is 30 percent, but the figures are a bit misleading.
According to the latest NCLB report, there are 56 schools in Nevada in need of improvement and 13 schools in restructuring because of NCLB standards. Nationally, there are almost 99,000 schools of which only 10,000 are in need of improvement and only 2,000 in need of restructuring. Nevada’s schools are below average across the board.
The 2008-09 school year is just beginning, and come February the 2009 Legislature will be meeting in regular session. Will there be some hard questions asked during that session? Most agree, there should be, but the easy way out for legislators will be to point to the state’s current economic crisis and plead for help. When more state school systems in the country are doing far better than Nevada’s, someone must take the initiative and demand answers that go deeper than “more money, please.”
Nevada’s 17 counties have economic development organizations as does the state, and in most of the counties that are searching for new industrial development, they are hampered by a work force that is not educated to the standards required by today’s business world. Children coming out of high school today are not prepared for university level learning, a large percentage drops out and becomes menial labor at bare minimum wage, or less, and technologically advanced companies are not moving to Nevada. Taxes at all levels are affected by this. Sales taxes, transportation taxes, property taxes, and even gaming taxes are affected if a mean income level is near the poverty level.
According to the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN), “The number one concern of local companies is finding qualified candidates for skilled job openings. In line with that, EDAWN, along with the Nevada Association of Employers, the Nevada State Society for Human Resources, the Management Council of Northern Nevada Human Resources Association, the Sierra Nevada Human Resources Association, and Ormat Technologies hosted a workshop to help local companies recruit university and community college students for skilled job openings in northern Nevada.
The workshop was held on August 13 at the University of Nevada Reno campus and featured speakers from UNR, Truckee Meadows Community College, and Western Nevada College who discussed current workforce trends and provided tips for corporate campus recruiting.
In the 2006-07 NCLB ratings, 23 Nevada schools were listed as exemplary, while the current report lists just six. There were 96 schools listed as high achieving in 2006-07, and today just 57. These figures have nothing to do with the current economic problems the state is facing since those problems didn’t surface until the end of 2007. There have been serious questions raised about how the NCLB tests students, how the ratings are established, even whether or not the entire program is worth the time and effort, but one thing stands out following these periodic reports. In order for some school districts to be well below the national average, many must also be well above the national average.
The more important question is, why do Nevada’s schools do so poorly when measured against other state’s schools?
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