Avoid the mistakes made in California

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006 | 8:09 a.m.

I am so glad that they have narrowed the candidates to be the next superintendent of the Clark County School District down to two. More importantly, I am so glad that neither of the final two candidates are from California.

As a prior teacher in that state's school system, it would have been a big mistake to hire someone from that state again to run the Clark County system. The school system from that state is in serious disarray. The pay scale might be higher, but the results are disastrous.

As a new resident of Nevada, I applaud your school system being under one umbrella like the county, instead of being divided and deconsolidated into many districts. California used to have the magnet schools and many more choices, but the choices they made in curriculum learning, such as going from phonics and grammar to whole language learning, really hurt the system. They took away individual choices of parents from magnet schools and other programs that your district currently have.

Deconsolidation would also make it too competitive as far as teacher salaries, because teachers would be constantly trying to teach at what is termed the better school district for the higher pay, and the geographic boundaries would really hurt some of the schools and funding would be a problem. The geographic boundaries put that system at a severe disadvantage.

Both finalists come with good vision, but I think the interim superintendent, Walt Rulffes, should be the choice because he knows Nevada's students' needs and can make the necessary moves to get them implemented.

Because Nevada has such a severe shortage of teachers, maybe his vision can improve teacher morale and support and put the students at the highest priority.

Sharon Gibson

North Las Vegas