Educational Reform For Nevada Needs To Be More Than Where Spending Ranks
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
The proposal by Governor Gibbons to reform Nevada’s education system is predictably getting less than an open-arm reception or even a “let’s talk about it” perspective by the political powers in the Legislative Branch.
At the initial meeting of the Nevada Vision Stakeholders group meeting, education was a major topic for discussion regarding quality-of-life indicators with attention on the state’s ranking of #45 (out of 51) for 2005-2006 spending per student (taking the information from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. There was also attention given to the low ranking of the state for college graduates, pre-entrance college scores and very notably the low 8th grade student scores in reading and math.
For those who focus their attention on the amount of dollars not spent by the Nevada and how we can only advance by raising the state’s ranking from its current status with the rest of the nation – the information about the state’s 2005-2006 ranking – 4 out of the 5 states spending less than Nevada on a per-student basis are ranked higher than Nevada in the 8th grade testing results. While the data available for the Vision Group’s work needs to be brought up to current levels -- an overall and complete public discussion on how to reform and improve the educational quality is essential. This conversation also needs to extend throughout policy deliberation channels at the state and local school levels.
One of the specific proposals that was offered by Governor Gibbons involves the creation of a school voucher system which would provide parents and students the ability to select the educational provider they believe that would deliver the best results. Something similar was offered in the 2009 Nevada Legislature (AJR 4) but didn’t get a sniff when it came to being weighed by the Legislature for its possible merits. The elites in charge of educational policy seem to really only be interested in exploring alternatives to current approaches when there are federal dollars attached to the different direction.
Placing a priority on the focus of what we get from the state’s educational system would be far more productive than simply considering dollars spent. In addition to building in competition, through the adoption of a voucher system, the concepts of accountability should become the foundation of the reforms needed to improve the education our kids are receiving.
The proposal by Governor Gibbons to reform Nevada’s education system is predictably getting less than an open-arm reception or even a “let’s talk about it” perspective by the political powers in the Legislative Branch.
At the initial meeting of the Nevada Vision Stakeholders group meeting, education was a major topic for discussion regarding quality-of-life indicators with attention on the state’s ranking of #45 (out of 51) for 2005-2006 spending per student (taking the information from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. There was also attention given to the low ranking of the state for college graduates, pre-entrance college scores and very notably the low 8th grade student scores in reading and math.
For those who focus their attention on the amount of dollars not spent by the Nevada and how we can only advance by raising the state’s ranking from its current status with the rest of the nation – the information about the state’s 2005-2006 ranking – 4 out of the 5 states spending less than Nevada on a per-student basis are ranked higher than Nevada in the 8th grade testing results. While the data available for the Vision Group’s work needs to be brought up to current levels -- an overall and complete public discussion on how to reform and improve the educational quality is essential. This conversation also needs to extend throughout policy deliberation channels at the state and local school levels.
One of the specific proposals that was offered by Governor Gibbons involves the creation of a school voucher system which would provide parents and students the ability to select the educational provider they believe that would deliver the best results. Something similar was offered in the 2009 Nevada Legislature (AJR 4) but didn’t get a sniff when it came to being weighed by the Legislature for its possible merits. The elites in charge of educational policy seem to really only be interested in exploring alternatives to current approaches when there are federal dollars attached to the different direction.
Placing a priority on the focus of what we get from the state’s educational system would be far more productive than simply considering dollars spent. In addition to building in competition, through the adoption of a voucher system, the concepts of accountability should become the foundation of the reforms needed to improve the education our kids are receiving.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 1/10/2010 5:51 AM 
Categories: Nevada
Tags: Nevada Vision Stakeholders Gibbons Education Reform Proposal School Vouchers Nevada Educational Spending
Categories: Nevada
Tags: Nevada Vision Stakeholders Gibbons Education Reform Proposal School Vouchers Nevada Educational Spending
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