Editorial: Schools are progressing under Garcia

Friday, Jan. 23, 2004 | 9:01 a.m.

Carlos Garcia was hired in the spring of 2000 to replace retiring Brian Cram as superintendent of the Clark County School District. Coming on board from a much smaller district in California, Fresno Unified Schools, Garcia said he had been preparing all of his life for the challenge that had just been presented to him. The challenge has grown a lot in the nearly four years he's been at the helm. Clark County was the eighth-largest school district in the country then. Now, with nearly 270,000 students and more than 30,000 employees, the district is the sixth-largest.

We share the confidence placed in Garcia by the School Board, which this week added two more years to his contract, which now expires in 2008. Garcia showed leadership when he joined with the state's other superintendents to produce a comprehensive plan for school spending. Not all of the plan survived the 2003 Legislature. But enough of it did to greatly improve the financial picture for education in Clark County and throughout the state. Funding, however, remains one of Garcia's biggest challenges. Nevada ranks 48th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in per-pupil spending.

Inadequate funding, however, combined as it is with the district's nation-leading growth, has not stopped Garcia from achieving most of the goals the School Board set for him. In extending his contract, the board noted the increased numbers of students passing the state's high school proficiency exam, the increased numbers of students receiving high school diplomas, and the increased numbers of students taking college entrance exams.

The board also noted, however, the long way to go in other critical areas. Too many students are still testing below standards. Too many schools are still academically inadequate. And too many schools are not showing, in education jargon, "adequate yearly progress." Garcia has pledged to make gains in those problem areas and we believe he's up to the task. But he needs help. We would add that there are too many parents failing to provide proper influence, guidance and concern for their children in school. If parents were evaluated along with schools and superintendents, we fear too many would be graded as not attaining "adequate yearly progress."