School-choice debate takes bus ride to Carson City

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Sunday, Aug. 27, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.

The Clark County School District expects the 2007 Legislature to debate school choice, and in a pre-emptive move will ask lawmakers to share the transportation costs of such a program.

School choice has long been a goal of some legislators and parents, particularly conservatives who believe their local school is inadequate and insist on the option of sending their children elsewhere.

The district does provide some limited choice now, and officials say they're interested in expanding the opportunities, provided the logistics and the funding can be arranged.

By asking the state to share the costs of creating a broader school-choice program, the School District effectively shifts the issue to the Legislature.

Mary Jo Parise-Malloy of the community group Nevadans for Quality Education said the district's strategy appears to be: "If you want these changes, pitch in some dough."

The district did not provide an estimate of the cost of the program, which would begin with a pilot project involving a handful of schools.

The proposal is one of five requests the Clark County School Board is sending to the Legislature for consideration when its session begins in February:

During the School Board's search for a new superintendent last year, "autonomy" and "choice" were frequent buzzwords in the debate over the district's direction. Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said the time is ripe to test the waters for community support.

A pilot school-choice program involving a handful of high schools - with busing provided - would help the district determine which specialized programs, career academies and services are most popular.

"We'll have improved student achievement if they can go to a school where they're engaged and interested from the get-go," Rulffes said. "This is a door-opener in terms of introducing more choice and a more market-based school system."

Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, a critic of the district, said he hoped Clark County would pursue a school-choice option even if funding isn't approved by the Legislature.

"If somebody wants to go away from their neighborhood school, it shouldn't be limited to whether or not the district can provide a bus," Beers said. "If a student can find their own transportation, they should be allowed to go."

But Rulffes said it's not fair to offer choice only to students who can afford their own transportation. A family's financial status shouldn't be a qualifying factor, he said.

The district's existing attendance zone boundaries are designed to make the best use of schools, keep student travel time to a minimum, and promote diversity. Opponents say those goals are not consistent with school choice.

"I don't know how this is going to play out with our overpopulated schools," Parise-Malloy said. "There are always going to be campuses that people want to flock to because they think they're better. How are these schools going to be picked? What if they aren't schools people want to attend anyway? This is about a lot more than just transportation issues. There had better be significant public input before any schools are picked for this."

The other proposals on the School District's list for legislation - expanding school police zones, renewable energy and teacher incentives - can be described in a sentence. Rulffes said: "The message is safety, student achievement and efficiency - with accountability."

Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, said the district's requests must come with accountability measures and supporting data, if lawmakers are expected to cut the checks.

"Education's on everyone's radar; we're going to see proposals coming from every corner, competing for a finite number of dollars," Vilardo said. "The districts that can make the case that they've effectively used funding in prior programs, and have achieved results, will be in a better position to win this time around."

The teacher-incentives proposal seeks an expansion of an initiative that won support from lawmakers in the past. The 2005 Legislature approved $5 million worth of incentives for educators who take hard-to-fill positions in at-risk schools. For five years of work, the state kicks in a year's retirement credit.

That's little enticement in a district where 50 percent of the teachers have fewer than five years' experience.

"A 25-year-old teacher needs to pay rent, not worry about retirement," Rulffes said. "We want to give our employees the right to choose the incentive that best fills their individual need."