Editorial: Miracles in the classroom

Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

Clark County students and their parents are just getting back into the daily routine that typically starts with alarm clocks and sleepyheads and ends with extracurricular activities and homework.

Depending on one's vantage point, it is a time to look forward to a new year of learning or dread another year of carpools. For everyone, however, it is a period in which the decisions that adults make as parents, voters and legislators can have significant effects on the overall success of the 2006-07 school year.

We hope that Congress will look past the Bush administration's grandstanding and overhaul the failing No Child Left Behind Act when it comes up for renewal in 2007. Despite Education Secretary Martha Spelling's comments last week that the act is "99.9 percent pure" in its effectiveness, the nation's largest teachers' union says the law has damaged the learning environment with too much emphasis on standardized tests and a shortfall in funding.

Locally, the school year is starting some 340 teachers short in a district where four of every 10 teachers must work second jobs during the summer or school year just to make ends meet at home. When the Nevada Legislature convenes next year, it must find a way to increase funding for teacher salaries and also for the computer equipment, books and other supplies that can help make our students successful.

We also hope new Clark County School Superintendent Walt Rulffes moves forward on his efforts to reform our ever-growing district. One program we would very much like to see succeed is Rulffes' "empowerment schools" initiative, in which principals at four campuses are being given greater autonomy in staffing, curriculum and budget decisions.

Lastly, without adequate direction and support from home, many students will fail to keep up with their studies or even show up for school. Never underestimate the power of a parent who makes sure his or her child arises each day and arrives at school on time. Teachers alone cannot make students learn. Parents must actively participate in their children's education.

A free and guaranteed education is one of America's greatest achievements and the birthright of every child. Public schools can be places where miracles happen, but only when teachers, parents, politicians and the public work together. It is that kind of concerted effort we hope will occur this year.