WHERE I STAND: Guest columnist Walt Rulffes on the challenges of preparing today’s children to compete in a global economy

Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007 | 7:40 a.m.

In August the Where I Stand column is turned over to guest writers. Todays columnist is Walt Rulffes, superintendent of the Clark County School District.

Nationwide, two of the significant themes emerging in public education are redesigning the way we serve students, and developing strategies for attracting and retaining teachers.

These are critical issues locally, as well, as we constantly seek ways to improve the quality and number of graduates, and as we struggle to bring teachers to Nevada and keep them here.

With respect to these two issues, a recent report, "Tough Choices or Tough Times," a study commissioned by the nonprofit National Center on Education and the Economy, builds the case that our nation's academic dominance in international circles is slipping, largely because the structure of our educational system has failed to change with a changing world.

As evidence, the commission points to workers in other countries who not only have advanced skills and knowledge, but are also willing to work for far lower salaries.

For example, X-rays taken in the United States are now commonly transmitted via the Internet to be read by radiologists on the other side of the world who are highly specialized and knowledgeable, yet work at a fraction of the cost.

Same with high-tech help lines - calls for assistance are frequently answered by experts in Asia, who have not only mastered the technical information, but can convey it in a second language and, again, work for a far lower wage.

Clearly, when highly educated individuals in India or China are willing to work for one-eighth of what a comparably educated American expects, we may well be headed for an economic crisis as the report suggests.

In view of such changes, and the fact that American students are not performing well in international comparisons, it is important that we look beyond immediate and local needs and see what constitutes a solid curriculum internationally, one that will put our students on par with those in the nations that are capturing the jobs for which our students are competing.

Our community or nation may not be ready to embrace all 10 of the recommendations in the report (such as ending high school at age 16), but the Clark County School District is ahead of many other districts in reshaping expectations and opportunities for students.

We have increased math and science requirements for high school graduates, greatly expanded career and technical education opportunities for all students and have been steadfast in our support of expanding and improving early childhood education, all of which are recommendations in the report.

Other recommendations include recruiting teachers from the top third of high school graduates, and continuing the emphasis on site-based management. Both of these recommendations play into the second critical theme: staffing.

The most important resource schools can provide for children is highly qualified teachers. Textbooks, buildings and computers aren't much good without great teachers who can inspire and guide students toward healthy intellectual and social development.

The challenge we face, though, is finding enough of these miracle workers to serve the 311,000 pupils we are expecting this year.

Last school year our district was unable to fill all of our teaching vacancies, leaving more than 400 classrooms without qualified teachers. This year more than 1,500 teachers have already accepted offers of employment, but we still need another 482.

The teacher shortage is not unique to Clark County, but it has been exacerbated here by the cost of living and low salaries. It's a workforce issue predicated on the obvious principle that people are not drawn to jobs where they cannot afford to live.

The "Tough Choices or Tough Times" report recommends that starting pay for teachers be around $45,000. That's not far from what many California districts offer, but it is almost 50 percent more than what we offer in Clark County. Undoubtedly, better pay would draw more applicants and allow professionals to live without subsidized housing in the communities they serve .

Another way we hope to address this discrepancy is through pay-for-performance programs. If we can attract the top graduates, and if they want to gain greater professional status and make more money, then they must be prepared to be accountable for what happens in their classrooms.

We all know this is standard practice in the private sector, but addressing this issue in public education will require the cooperation of legislatures, teachers unions and school districts across the country if we truly hope to elevate not just the status of the profession, but, most importantly, the performance of pupils.

School governance is also a factor in keeping teachers in the profession. School leadership must engage all parties in the building - just as the Clark County School District's empowerment schools are doing - and should ensure that there are professional development opportunities and a career path that allow for greater compensation but do not necessarily lead to school administration.

There are other things we must do to improve education - greater resources to the neediest schools, expansion of pre-kindergarten opportunities, more adult education offerings, reduce Nevada's class sizes - but restructuring and staffing are two critical starting points.

It's a well-established fact that a child's home environment is the best predictor of his or her success in school. That puts the most important responsibility for education squarely on the shoulders of parents, where it belongs.

The district's responsibility is to organize efficiently for instruction, and to ensure that classrooms are headed by the most talented teachers this country has to offer, and we are striving toward those goals.

Children spend a great deal of time in school. We should make sure that their time is well spent, and we can accomplish that by making education a community priority.