School funding policies criticized by group at protest

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.

A frequent critic of the Clark County School District said Wednesday administrators haven't done enough to ensure qualified special education teachers are in every classroom, particularly at high-risk schools serving large numbers of minority students.

Marzette Lewis, at a press conference organized by her community group WAAK-UP, said the needs of children, particularly those in her West Las Vegas neighborhood, have been continually ignored. She urged parents to protest the district's shortcomings by keeping their children home for the first month of classes in order to reduce attendance on"Count Day," used by the state to determine education funding.

"We need to start demanding and stop begging for crumbs," Lewis said. "We need to hit them where they'll feel it, in the pocketbook. When count day is over, the district will lose millions and millions of dollars."

School District officials denounced Lewis' call for a boycott.

"What she's suggesting would only hurt kids," said Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia. "We're already a very low-funded district, I can't understand why anyone would deliberately want to see our schools get even less money."

Garcia also disputed Lewis' claim that minority students were being deliberately short-changed when it came to hiring special education teachers.

"We understand her concern, but this is a national issue, not just a Clark County issue," Garcia said. "There's a shortage of these specialists everywhere, which is why we actually have to go to the private sector to provide those functions for us."

Brad Reitz, assistant superintendent of student support services for the district, said finding special education teachers is a constant struggle. Because of the demanding nature of the job turnover tends to be high, Reitz said.

However, Reitz said, contrary to Lewis' claim, at-risk schools get hiring priority over other campuses.

"They get first pick, the cream of the crop," Reitz said today.

A new statewide initiative, approved by the Legislature during the last session, gives retirement credits to teachers in hard-to-fill positions including special education, math, English as a Second Language and science.

"We're all taking steps to address the shortages and keep teachers at those high need schools," Reitz said.

Lewis, who has cared for nearly two dozen foster children over the years and had several in special education programs, suggested the district pay those teachers 12-month salaries even if they work at nine-month schools.

Lewis and other members of the community group also questioned the district's spending practices, asking why Mojave High School, with a high number of minority students, received $4,614 per pupil in 2001-02, compared with Laughlin High School, which received $8,410.

"They're spending almost twice as much on white, nonminority students," said the Rev. Gary Hunter. "I call that mismanagement."

But district officials say it's misleading to compare per-pupil expenditures alone.

Smaller schools, such as Laughlin with just over 400 pupils, are more expensive to run than campuses like Mojave with 2,500-plus enrollment, said School Board President Sheila Moulton.

Members of the group also alleged Palo Verde High School, which serves Summerlin, received twice as much per-pupil funding as Mojave. In fact, Palo Verde received $4,599 per pupil in 2001-02, $15 less per pupil than Mojave.

Another allegation by the group was that West Middle School with a predominantly black student population, received less from the district than schools in Green Valley. But a review of the district's accountability reports showed West received $6,340 per pupil in 2001-02 while Bob Miller Middle School in Green Valley received $4,791 per pupil for the same year.

"I think when people take a close look at the facts, they'll see a lot of these claims don't bear out," Moulton said. "We're doing our best for all our kids, and we'll continue to do our best."