Educators have some studies for lawmakers

By Emily Richmond

Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

1. Virginia

2. Connecticut

3. Minnesota

4. New Jersey

5. Maryland

42. South Carolina

43. Nevada

44. West Virginia

When educators arrive in Carson City next month to lobby state legislators for help, they'll be armed with a slew of studies ranking Nevada near the bottom of the nation when it comes to its public school system. Think lemons.

Their challenge will be to spin the latest studies to their benefit - as evidence that the Silver State's public schools need more money. Think lemonade.

But Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, one of the district's sternest critics, says such studies may not provide the kind of persuasive leverage educators hope.

"These are indicators that we have a dysfunctional education system," Beers said. "In order for us to change those rankings, we must change the way we educate. We can't continue doing what we've always been doing and expect better results. Unfortunately, we have a long history of that."

Keith Rheault, Nevada's superintendent of public instruction, said the state has been at or near the bottom of national rankings for so long that some people "probably don't pay attention to it anymore." But he hopes some of the newer studies, presented in concert with a legislative audit on the adequacy of education funding in Nevada, will sway lawmakers to cough up more money for schools.

The state's 17 school districts and the Education Department have once again closed ranks to ask lawmakers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in programs, services and initiatives, known as the iNVest Plan.

Among the lessons taken from the national rankings is that states with large, Spanish-language immigrant populations, such as Nevada, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, have low student-achievement scores. If Nevada is to rise in the rankings, it must provide more early education services, including preschool and full-day kindergarten, to students coming from non-English speaking homes, Rheault said.

"If we work with them earlier, we have a better chance of getting them where they need to be," Rheault said. "Those programs cost more, but it's an investment."

The most recent educational achievement report, released Wednesday by the journal Education Week, put the Silver State 44th in the nation in K-12 academic achievement. And Nevada placed 43rd for the chances its children have of success in school and beyond. The criteria included academic achievement and socioeconomic factors, such as employment rates and the percentage of parents with postsecondary degrees.

This is the first time Education Week has used these formulas to measure state performance against one another. Previously, states received letter grades but were not ranked.

"We're seeing a pretty unflattering picture of what the public school systems in Nevada are doing right now," said Chris Swanson, director of Education Week's Education Research Center.

Then there's New Mexico, which ranked 51st.

Veronica Garcia, New Mexico's education secretary, said its last-place finish could help bolster support for schools - or it could hurt.

"I hope that people won't throw up their hands in desperation and say, 'This is what we expect from a border state,' " Garcia said. "I hope they won't use this as an excuse not to do what we need to do for our poorest students."

Rheault said he empathizes with Garcia.

"New Mexico has many of the same challenges we do, only on a larger scale, if you can imagine that," Rheault said. "No one wants to be at the bottom."

To measure K-12 academic achievement, researchers used math and reading results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, sometimes referred to as "the nation's report card," as well as graduation rates, how much poor students lagged behind their more affluent peers, and performance on Advanced Placement exams.

Unlike prior editions of the annual report, Education Week's researchers did not hand out letter grades to states, and skipped ratings for teacher quality, overall school environment and funding. Instead, the report was broadened to include information about the education and employment levels of parents, as well as socioeconomic factors of states as a whole.

"We could no longer look at children in schools in isolation from what happens to them when they leave," Swanson said. "To say that demographics have nothing to do with conditions in education would be naive."

Some of the criteria used in ranking a child's chances of success are arguably beyond the scope - and control - of individual school districts. Nevada's children fared well for having a high percentage of parents who work full time - 72 percent, compared with 67 percent nationally. But the state was dinged for its lower percentage of parents who are fluent in English, 76 percent compared with 84 percent nationally. Nevada also has a lower percentage of parents with postsecondary degrees, 31 percent compared with 43 percent nationally.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said he was encouraged that the new report is consistent with earlier findings. It also bolsters the argument that improving schools will take a community effort, from both the public and private sectors.

"This is the reason I keep talking about business partners," Rulffes said. "Not necessarily to write a check ... but to provide supplemental services to poorer students who may not have the same advantages as kids coming from more affluent families."

To Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, and co-chairwoman of the interim Legislative Committee on Education, as each new study seems to validate the findings of prior researchers, the murmurs of Nevada's shortfalls have turned into shouts.

"Look at iNVest, the (state's) adequacy study, the national report cards - we're hearing the same things, the message is being duplicated," Parnell said. "It's valuable to have the information in front of us, but only if we do something with it. At some point, we have to get on the road."