Editorial: Raise priority of education

Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 | 5:54 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

August 20-21, 2005

A national, nonprofit organization that specializes in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of secondary education has offered answers to the question of why Nevada's schools, particularly those within the Clark County School District, are recording poor performance levels year after year. The answers are contained in a 40-page report produced by San Francisco-based WestEd, which is funded by more than 160 school districts (including the Clark and Washoe county districts), as well as by the federal government, states (including Nevada), counties, universities and numerous foundations, businesses and nonprofit groups. Its purpose is to help schools improve by identifying problem areas and offering solutions.

To the question of "Why?" whenever data is released showing the dismal performance of Nevada schools, here are some of the report's answers:

The upshot of these and other problems, WestEd's researchers found, is that "the state ranks near the bottom in state-by-state comparisons" in terms of student achievement and per-pupil funding. While the report is not all negative -- it lauds the state for improvements in many areas including rising school standards, classroom technology and the millennium scholarships -- its finding that Nevada trails the country in education mirrors numerous other independent studies. Solutions for each problem outlined are offered, but they will not have much of a chance unless the study's top recommendation is followed. Above all, WestEd says, the state must acknowledge that "a fundamental problem is that education is not a priority in Nevada."

With every group studying our educational system arriving at the same conclusion, and with all 17 of Nevada's school superintendents making the same point, we believe it's time the Legislature learned an old adage: Admitting a problem is the first step toward overcoming it.