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Opinion
Feb. 01, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: School choice

Nevada's education establishment should take notice of a recent opinion poll on parent satisfaction with public schools.

The poll, conducted for the Nevada Policy Research Institute and the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, found that only 11 percent of respondents would send their children to a public school if they had the ability to pick any available option. About half of poll participants said they would send their kids to private school instead, a quarter would choose a charter school and 15 percent would pick home schooling.

"It is clear that Nevadans are doubtful of the effectiveness of our monolithic public education system and want more choice when it comes to how their children are educated," said Andy Matthews, NPRI's communications director.

Nevada lags far behind other states when it comes to school choice. The state's charter school law is among the weakest in the nation and vouchers remain a foreign concept.

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    • There is no legislative appetite to improve the situation, as teachers unions remain among the most powerful special interests in Carson City.

    It's worth noting, however, that organized labor and entrenched lawmakers aren't the only obstacles to enacting meaningful reforms. When school choice issues have qualified as ballot questions in other states, they've generally failed because taxpayers in suburban areas and upper-middle-class neighborhoods haven't lined up in support. These voters might very well send their children to private school if they could afford it, but that doesn't mean they're unhappy with their public schools. In fact, they're often quite satisfied with the education offered around the corner from their homes.

    The best issue for school-choice advocates to tackle in Clark County is deconsolidation. Parents from Henderson to Summerlin and Spring Valley to North Las Vegas find the Clark County School District's unresponsive, centralized bureaucracy impossible to navigate and lacking in accountability. Busting up this behemoth would put some competitive pressure on principals and teachers to deliver the kind of education all parents expect.

    That's a ballot question we'd love to see.



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    Teacher wrote on March 02, 2008 02:48 AM: Communism is alive and well in ours schools and has already done damage with Goals 2000, OBE, school reform, increased use of psychiatry against teachers who won't teach 'world government' and now IB.
    (International Baccalaureate)

    It may be too late to save our schools. The only thing you can do to protect your children from communism world government brainwashing is to yank them out and homeschool them.


    larry wrote on February 03, 2008 08:02 AM: I have two questions for all the public-school haters among the RJ readership.
    Question #1: Where is the accountability information on all the local private schools?
    Question #2: Exactly which local private schools cost less than $6000 per year per student and perform as least as well as the average public school in Nevada?
    I just can't take any of this school-choice, school-voucher, market-forces-can-improve-education propaganda seriously while these mammoth gaps in information still exist.


    tim wrote on February 01, 2008 04:44 PM: FS step one is complete,step two happens if billary gets elected. they tried it once, but they wont give up. quite a few already embrace communism but they call it something else. Penny if my wife and i didnt have to work two jobs to pay all those taxes, i would rather have them home schooled if keeps them away from wackos like you.


    FS wrote on February 01, 2008 12:09 PM: The only way to impose communism on America without firing a shot is to get a few things done. 1) create an educational system which preaches government values, 2)ban private ownership of firearms, 3) elect officials which have embraced communism. Step 1 is complete.


    Nyna wrote on February 01, 2008 11:03 AM: I think Penny needs to get her facts straight. I have 5 children and have home schooled the last two. By home schooling my youngest she went from a 1st grade reading level to a 3rd grade level in 6mo. In the last 3 years a home schooled student won the National Spelling Bee; Home Schooled students continue to be the top scorers in the SAT’s and ACT’s. As far as teaching our children what we believe, don’t you….oh wait maybe you don’t have any children that would explain it. I take offence to you calling me a religious freaks. If it werent for "religious Freaks" this country would not be here. I love the Lord Jesus Christ and I think you could learn a few things from him. If I can not teach my children MY VALUES then we are no better off than a communist country.


    douglas wrote on February 01, 2008 10:48 AM: must be "wacko" for parents to want their bambinos in schools:

    not controlled by gang bangers

    which don't teach "politically correct" courses which have zero value in preparation for real world success

    which do not "socially promote"/graduate pupils who can't compete in society for more advanced jobs than pizza delivery

    without metal detectors to catch *some* of the weapons

    which teach honor and ethics instead of some touchy-feely pablum


    Penny wrote on February 01, 2008 08:50 AM: Yep, the public education system needs overhauling big time, but the editorial is just an infomercial for the right wing fantasy of destroying public education and replacing it with wacko sectarian schools that will teach kids the insane values of our religious freaks, or homeschooling by parents who'll only be able to teach their kids how to read at a fourth grade level and shoot a squirrel. Public education was established to keep America from looking like that.

    And... I'm not a member, but if that teachers union really had all that scary power, wouldn't teachers make more than people who collect empty soda cans for change?


    Bobby Antoine wrote on February 01, 2008 08:20 AM: This is exactly what the Teachers Union has blessed us with. Get rid of it for much better educational results.


    bida wrote on February 01, 2008 04:24 AM: The study confirms what concerned parents have known for years about the Clark County School District -- anything is better than. It would be wonderful if someone could finally take some action in this regard instead of being so concerned with their political domain.