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Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012 | 2:03 a.m.
In August, Brian Greenspun turns over his Where I Stand column to guest writers. Today’s columnist is Dallas Haun, president and CEO of Nevada State Bank.
To me, Nevada’s future begins and ends with education. We’ve all seen the statistics comparing Nevada’s schools and universities to those in other states. I’d like to suggest that we, as community leaders, need to find the time, the money and the resources to put into our educational system.
Three gentlemen, among others, have been doing good things in difficult times. Dwight Jones, the superintendent of the Clark County School District, assumed his role in December 2010, when the district was at a historically low point in funding, reputation and morale. He is to be applauded for his efforts in handling himself well in a difficult environment and keeping the focus on education.
Yes, we have many challenges to overcome, but with Jones’ help, we’re making a start. The news isn’t all bad. For example, in 2011, the CCSD had 34 students recognized as National Merit semifinalists, who rank in the top 1 percent of high school juniors. And Green Valley High School has won more Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics/Science Teaching than any other high school in the United States. If you make the effort to meet the teachers and administrators at your local school, you’ll find many more reasons to be optimistic about the future. You’ll also find opportunities to help shape that future, whether it’s volunteering to tutor students or encouraging your company to adopt a school through CCSD’s School-Community Partnership Program (ccsd.net/community).
Dr. Neal Smatresk, president of UNLV, is also facing challenges in a community where only about 21 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher. His administration is reaching out to the community to help make the most of limited resources. Internships are one way local businesses can help university students; they provide valuable real-world experience that can translate into job opportunities for students and bring fresh perspectives to the sponsoring companies.
I had lunch on Aug. 13 with Dr. Percy Poon, dean of the Lee Business School at UNLV, and he’s very excited about the 20 students in the intern program there. UNLV currently serves 27,000 students, and we know that at least 60 percent of them will stay in our community, so helping them is a good way to improve the future for all of us.
The College of Southern Nevada, headed by its president, Dr. Mike Richards, is helping to train the workforce for tomorrow’s jobs as well as today’s. The Brookings Institution study released last fall detailed seven industries that held the highest potential for economic growth, diversification and job creation in Nevada. CSN has training programs in all seven areas. In fact, as the state’s largest higher education institution, CSN offers degrees and certificates in more than 130 areas of study, from health and medical services to business and from clean energy to aviation technology.
The educational system in Nevada cannot overcome the challenges it faces without help from each of us. If you have children in school, you need to be involved. Join the PTA at your child’s school, and look for ways to help your school and its students achieve more.
Education starts at home. Take an interest in your child’s homework, read to them when they’re small, and have them read to you as soon as they are able.
If you’re in business, reach out with more than money. Make your business open to internships that give students practical experience in the business world. Mentor high school or college students to encourage them to stay in school and get the education they need to succeed.
With the help of dedicated educators like Dwight Jones, Neal Smatresk and Mike Richards — and support from all of us — positive change can happen, and our educational system can improve. It won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight, but if we make it a priority, we can build positive momentum for the future.
"If you're in business, reach out with more than money." Yes, offer internships so you can get free labor to go with your low taxes.
truthiness writes: <<Yes, offer internships so you can get free labor to go with your low taxes.>>
Internships aren't simply free labor. Internships have the potential to offer students real life experiences that help them see the relevance of what they're learning in school.
I appreciate Dallas Haun's op-ed. Someone is finally talking about community effort as a means of improving education. It's refreshing to see that someone is able to look at the big picture and discuss positive steps that we can take to improve student achievement instead of just pointing the finger of blame at any one group.
In order to improve education in Nevada, a great many things are necessary, but first and foremost is a culture shift in the state that places a premium on education. The citizens of the state must change the mindset and cultural values about education to recognize that it is important and vital to the economic growth and development of the state. We have to move past the belief from years ago that "I can quit school, go to work as (fill in the blank) on the strip and make bank. I don't need an education." This lack of emphasis on education has allowed our elected leaders to kick the can down the road and not reform the tax structure, and more importantly the funding structure for both K-12 and higher education to reflect that importance. We have been stuck for way too long with the rhetoric of "no new taxes" no matter what. The mantra of "low taxes and businesses will come" has proven to be an unacknowledged failure for years. The political, economic, and cultural leaders of this state have failed in their duties to serve the people of the Nevada and more importantly the children of our state. Just a few days ago, a story appeared about 7 students in Nevada winning a National Merit Scholarship. The bad news, only one of the 7 was going to stay in state, and given the past history the others will probably never return. That is a brain drain that can never be made up.
The legislature, the governor, and the citizens of Nevada have been sold a bill of goods about education reform. The legislature bought the idea of changing teacher evaluations is "education reform". The citizens of Nevada bought the idea that the legislature was "reforming education" by changing seniority as the sole criteria for retaining teachers. The public was sold a bill of goods that everything that was wrong with education was the teacher's fault. If you get rid of the "bad teachers", the results will improve. The only flaw with that argument is that a means already exists in the contracts to get rid of "bad teachers". It required administrators to do their job, document properly and get rid of the "bad teacher." The only problem was that the "reformers" felt that a "bad teacher" was the older, more experienced, and the more expensive teacher. The argument was that a younger, more energetic teacher, with less experience, and much less expensive could replace the older teacher. In fact, you could get two teachers for the price of one. The only problem is nobody can precisely define what a "bad teacher" looks like.
The "education reforms" pushed by the Legislature are a smoke screen to try to fool the public that our elected officials care about education. They don't.
Why have we heard no discussion about changing the length of the school year or changing the calendar? Why do our students get three months off when no other country in the world does that? Our calendar dates from the 1850's when student were needed to work in the farm fields. Ask any teacher how much review they have to do after summer vacation.
Why have we heard no discussion about increasing the length of the school day? Most other countries ahead of us have a longer day.
Why have we not heard about improving teacher selection and retention? About 50% of teachers leave within 5 years. What other profession has that attrition rate? Dr. James Guthrie, the state superintendent of education, has advocated improving teacher pay.
Why have we not talked about looking at other successful education systems around the world to see what they do and more importantly if it can be used here.
Can somebody explain to me how changing the teacher evaluation system is education reform? Can somebody explain to me how changing the seniority system is education refrom?
We have an opportunity to change the old education system into a new system that will allow our children and grandchildren to compete against the rest of the world in the 21st Century. Until we start to have those discussions and debates, we are not "reforming education".
There is more than enough blame to share, the real issue is how do we as residents of Nevada change the current situation, and move things forward, giving our children an education that will qualify them for the jobs of the 21st Century.
The tax structure and the funding of schools MUST be changed to give schools the resources they need to fully implement the changes in Common Core State Standards. Teachers need to be given the ability to teach what students need to know, and to insure that students are ready to learn the material in the next grade before they are promoted. Teachers need to be held accountable for the results their students achieve, but students need to be held accountable as well.
If you are going to institute true education reform, why do we have a school calendar that is the same as we had over a hundred years ago? No other industrialized country in the world gives their students three months off during the summer. Many countries have a longer school year, shorter breaks, and a longer school day. In many countries, students are tracked into several paths depending on their ability and skills. That may be something that Nevada needs to look at in order to develop a more diversified work force.
The bottom line is that all of the stake holders, parents, teachers, administrators, students, political and social leaders need to stop playing the blame game. Instead, we need to have intelligent, realistic conversations about the goals that we want to have for education in Nevada. We need to roll up our sleeves, put down the non-productive rhetoric, and begin to talk about what we see as the future of education in Nevada. The work is too important. Failure is NOT an option.
Most CCSaD kids fall back about 2.5 months in reading, writing, math, science and technological skills during summers. They canNOT compete with kids from places where they actually VALUE education.
Most CCSAD kids don't have plans for doing much with their lives. Look around. See why yet?
One reason is that our culture and their parents don't have much ambition or respect for life...
http://www.examiner.com/article/personal...
That's what Governor Guinn told us and we sunk billions more into K-12 and higher ed. But we got NEGATIVE RETURNS on our investment. So cut the cheap talk and provide some results.
Ah, Roberta Anderson once again lying AND not bothering to prove her opinion. I guess that's why it's an opinion though.