Editorial: Education must be first

Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007 | 7:21 a.m.

To see one example of excellence in public education in Nevada, go to the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy. Founded by the tennis star, the inner-city charter school has posted stellar achievement marks. The school requires uniforms, strict discipline, parental involvement, longer days and high standards for teachers.

Money - more of it - also plays a vital role in the success of the school, as it gets a financial boost from the Agassi Foundation. The state gives schools $4,696 per student, and in Clark County, local taxes boost that to $6,474. The Agassi Foundation chips in roughly $2,500 more per student, and that only gets the Agassi school up to the national average for per-pupil funding.

It shouldn't come as a shock, then, that since Nevada schools are funded well below average they also post below-average marks in most of the indicators of educational success. Sadly, no one in Carson City who understands that has been able to gather enough support to push the education system forward and receive more funding.

The question lawmakers this session should ask themselves is this: Is continued mediocrity acceptable?

In past sessions, some lawmakers have said the problem is that there is too much bureaucracy and have offered short-sighted plans, such as breaking up the Clark County School District or cutting administrative positions. While it is important that there is appropriate oversight and accountability, lawmakers are missing the larger picture. And they won't find it in the hollow rhetoric of Gov. Jim Gibbons' Education First initiative.

It is time for the Legislature to provide bold leadership to improve the state's educational system. Lawmakers should start by funding education properly.

This past week the Children's Advocacy Alliance report card on Nevada gave the state an F overall for education, with Fs in per-pupil spending, student-to-teacher ratio and high school dropouts. Student achievement earned a D.

Well-respected university professors Bruce Biddle and David Berliner, experts in the field, have found that the arguments that try to separate school funding from student achievement ring hollow. In a survey of research done on the issue, they found that the "level of funding is tied to sizable net effects for student outcomes."

Better funded schools, they found, attract better qualified and more experienced teachers and are able to reduce class sizes - both tend to drive student achievement up.

Lawmakers should start at the beginning and approve a plan by former Gov. Kenny Guinn to establish full-day kindergarten. While Gibbons has said he hasn't seen proof that it works, nearly everyone in education has and several studies back it up as well - students who go to full-day kindergarten do better than students who don't.

Teachers need to be better paid, and the Legislature needs to give them a well-deserved pay hike. The salaries are so low it is almost inconceivable that anyone would take such a demanding job. Part of the pay package should include merit-based increases that will give outstanding teachers an incentive to continue teaching.

Lawmakers should also set aside extra money for schools that implement innovative programs that improve achievement. One such program that is being tested in Clark County is the "empowerment" school program, which gives the schools a bigger budget and the principal and school staff more control over how and what they teach. The results so far have been good and the Legislature needs to move forward by providing funding for more empowerment schools.

The governor and lawmakers also need to do more for higher education in this state.

In the higher education system, Chancellor Jim Rogers has laid out an ambitious program to create a great system, one that views education in a larger framework, as lasting from kindergarten through college. He is making progress, especially as he has worked in concert with the school districts in Clark and Washoe counties to assure that students are better prepared for a college education.

Higher education will need more funding, particularly for research at UNLV. One of the goals of the system has been to increase research, which should boost the academic level of the university. The Legislature should also approve $110 million for the proposed health sciences center in Las Vegas, which would be home to expanded programs to train doctors and nurses to stanch the critical shortage in Nevada.

The Community College of Southern Nevada, the largest community college in the state, needs more money to bring it on par with other community colleges. The school is bursting at the seams and continues to handle an ever-increasing number of students, particularly students who plan to transfer to a four-year school, so it will need more facilities and staff.

The Legislature will also have to secure the future of the Millennium Scholarship, originally funded by the state's tobacco settlement money. It will be insolvent in six years, according to current projections. The program has been wildly successful, giving thousands of Nevada high school graduates a chance to go to college, which otherwise might have been financially impossible. It is important to give as many high-achieving students as possible a chance at a college education.

For too many years lawmakers have shrugged and approved education funding below the national average and have received what they have paid for.

Is below average acceptable?

We think the answer is obvious. We also know that it will be politically difficult, but lawmakers must act boldly and think of education as essential - as a key toward a better economy and a higher quality of life. And, let's face it, our children deserve it.