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EDITORIAL
Andre Agassi's 'amazing accomplishment'
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Andre Agassi has led a life of accomplishment on and off the tennis court. But tonight, the Las Vegan is poised to mark one of his greatest achievements.
Mr. Agassi and his wife, fellow tennis Hall of Famer Steffi Graf, will host their 16th annual Grand Slam for Children benefit concert at Wynn Las Vegas. The event is the signature fundraiser for the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, which supports the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, his West Las Vegas K-12 charter school.
To date, the Grand Slam for Children has raised about $92 million. If tonight's event brings in roughly $8 million, as last year's did, the gala will crack the $100 million mark, the threshold needed to "secure our school in perpetuity and fund it forever," Mr. Agassi told the Review-Journal's Norm Clarke. "That will be an amazing accomplishment, and it certainly will be an amazing celebration."
Agassi Prep is a tuition-free public school in a part of Las Vegas long served by substandard public schools. The state supplies the same level of per-student funding allocated to other Clark County schools, but Mr. Agassi's foundation provides significant additional operating resources. The foundation also covers the debt and interest payments on the state-of-the-art, $40 million campus built on West Lake Mead Boulevard, near Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Students are required to wear uniforms. The school day is two hours longer than a public school day, and the school year is 10 days longer. Students are required to be at school some evenings and weekends. Parents are required to volunteer at the school and be engaged in their children's studies daily. Teachers and administrators are not tenured. The school is built around accountability.
Next summer, Agassi Prep will graduate its fourth senior class. A 100 percent college acceptance rate is not merely a goal. It is expected.
Mr. Agassi wants to build other such charter schools around the country and reform American education in the process. His annual concert has made this vision a reality in Las Vegas. That he continues to give so much to his hometown is an inspiration in deeply challenging economic times.
Thanks for believing in Las Vegas, Mr. Agassi. And congratulations on a landmark fundraising achievement.
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Not only does the Agassi Academy have a longer school year, longer school day, and because of it's private endowment, spend more per pupil than other CCSD schools, there is probably one other difference. No mention was made of the class size at the Academy, I would suspect that it less than half the size of CCSD schools. The teacher pay scale is also much higher than CCSD. No wonder the school does well. It just proves that small class sizes, high per pupil expenditures do work.
Andre understands one of the primary ways charters schools can succeed - be sure to have a wealthy philanthropist who will dump gobs of cash into your school. KIPP charter school in Washington DC is often touted for its' success while managing to spend twice as much as the DC public schools on per child spending. Remind me again how more money won't help?
mrs ed .. your comment would have me laughing if it hadn't made me cry first. it is NOT the responsibility of the government to provide for "for the health, welfare and education of children." That is the PARENTS job. It is because of bleeding-heart liberals like you that the USA is in the mess that it is currently in.
n7v.blogspot.com's post was the best one... (Mining, Agriculture, and Engineering) were "100% funded .. " all students with declared majors in those departments were intended to receive FREE RIDES....
regardless, Agassi doesn't need the money. He's engaging in a higher calling.
@ xfmrhsd: You're missing the point. Andre Agassi says with the $100 million he won't ever have to raise money for his school again; they'll live on the interest the $100 million generates. So, if the Agassi school is better, and the Agassi school won't ever need to raise any more money, why not follow the same formula for the rest of the county? If we could raise $18 billion and then turn the operation of the schools over to the Agassi people, we would have better schools and would never have to tax anyone for schools again. Yes, there would be higher taxes for a few years while we set up the operating fund, but once in place we could give everyone huge, permanent tax cut.
"If we double the amount of money we pay into schools we could have enough money to turn the operation of the CCSD to the Agassi foundation people in only eight years"_________Currently public ed get 50% of the states general fund. So if it were to get 100% of the general fund for 8 years then everything is ok......higher taxes for sure there. Anyone think once things are hunky dory in the schools those taxes will be returned to the excessive heights they currently reach?
Hey ms. Ed, it is people like you who seem to think it is the government duty to help people like you. And there is never enough, for people like you.
Abolish public education.
I don't want to hear any more of this BULL about "100% funded in perpetuity".
This state's 18 constitutionally *required* public schools (pne per county) were also "100% funded .." The financial obligations of current taxpayers keep going up and UP.
Three UNR Applied Science departments (Mining, Agriculture, and Engineering) were "100% funded .. " all students with declared majors in those departments were intended to receive FREE RIDES. That's right.
The Regents sign-off on higher and HIGHER tuition for them. Indeed, there's even talk about charging them a differential (MORE) because science programs "cost more".
Government control of education means that sooner or later the who mission of these institutions get turned upside down. Someday Agassi Prep is going to be a Charter School for RICH KIDS.
Agassi, Graf, and Wynn have done a ton for so many people. Nothing but admiration for their mind-blowing achievements. Total gratitude. It would be nice to see Agassi Academy become so successful, that families and kids yearn and strive to be accepted there.
"Agassi Prep is a tuition-free public school in a part of Las Vegas long served by substandard public schools. The state supplies the same level of per-student funding allocated to other Clark County schools, but Mr. Agassi's foundation provides significant additional operating resources." Mr. Agassi has to raise $100 million to ensure the future viability of ONE excellent school. The editors praise him highly for this, and well they should. Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf have worked hard for the benefit of the city. So why do the editors continue to insist we should cut spending on education? There are over 180 elemetary schools in the CSD. If we turned them all into k-12, and funded them all to the tune of $100,000,000 each, it would take $18 billion to fund 180 Agassi preps in the Valley. The total CCSD budget is about $2.5 billion annually. If we double the amount of money we pay into schools we could have enough money to turn the operation of the CCSD to the Agassi foundation people in only eight years, plus we'd never have to spend any more money on schools. We could secure them in perpetuity. Higher taxes for eight years in return for better schools that are self-sustaining forever. When do we start?