No One Asked Me But… (November 30, 2022)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… The Clark County School District, the fifth-largest district in the country, serves approximately 300,000 students and has been plagued by concerns of failing student performance, school safety, and a dysfunctional Board over the last decade.

Earlier this year, Superintendent Jara told educators in the District to ignore the recent talks of breaking up the District, saying that, while the District recognized the need to continue improving student performance, breaking up the District would do nothing to address the issue.

Dr. Jara denounced the initiative as an “adult-centered distraction” to educating students.
The Superintendent stated: “If anything is to change, Nevada must provide more funding and academic rigor to improve educational outcomes. …This initiative achieves none of these.”

One might remind Dr. Jara if he and his Board had not openly violated NRS. 388G. 500-810, there would be no call to break-up the District.

Dan Stewart, the leader of the initiative to break-up of the District, said the effort was meant to put decision making and funding for Nevada schools closer to its students. (This is exactly what the NRS stated above are designed to do within the present structure of CCSD.)

The over 200,000 Nevadans who signed the initiative hope the Nevada Legislature will pass this initiative in the next legislative session.

The State Legislature in 1956, consolidated 208 school districts into 19 districts based, for the most part on county-wide boundaries. This was done to correct problems inherent in the school districts that were too small.

It is now time for the State Legislature to correct the problems inherent in a district that is too large and bloated to meet the needs of the students within that district. The failure to meet those needs is evidenced by the fact that nearly one third of the schools in CCSD are deemed “failing schools” as well as the fact that Nevada is ranked 49th out of 50 states in educational success. That is a figure confirmed by Dr. Jara earlier this year. My research found Nevada ranked as high as 44th out of 50 in one ranking.

While this is a little better than Dr. Jara’s evaluation of the school district he’s responsible for, it is still miserable.

The Clark County School District is presently divided into seven large politically driven districts, which do not recognize natural, cultural, or physical boundaries. In essence, diverse cultures and communities have been disenfranchised, leaving them without representation at the altar of consolidation and conformity.

When the State moved to consolidate the 208 school districts in the State of Nevada, they could not have envisioned a school district of over 300,000 students. Many of the policies and expenses inherent in a large central school district have little or no practical value for rural schools, students in poverty, ELL students, or those with other cultural educational disadvantages.

Independent school districts within the confines of Clark County would give the people of those smaller districts the governmental authority to tailor their school policies, within the confines of state and federal laws, to meet the unique needs of their students. I believe this would meet the legislative purposes stated in NRS 388G. 500-810. “…the reconfiguring of the structure of the CCSD into local school precincts (i.e. districts) will offer an educational system that is responsive to the needs and concerns of residents…”

Incorporated cities like Mesquite, Boulder City, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and Las Vegas could develop independent school districts. To enhance ethnic balance in the larger cities it might be beneficial to develop a number of smaller independent school districts within the city. There are also large areas of unincorporated sections of the county that could be developed into independent school districts.

The Superintendent champions the cause of economy of scale. However, if he were to be completely honest, he would also admit that research validates economy of scale diminishes very rapidly at a very low level. This break up is not only economically feasible, it would be educational beneficial to the residents, parents, and students of these smaller districts.

The Legislative Committee on Reorganization of CCSD indicated there was a lack of diversity in CCSD Board of Trustees and Central Office leadership. Using figures released by CCSD in the Superintendents Plan for Reorganization (which turned out to be a plan not to reorganize), 72 percent of the students that make up CCSD are members of various minority communities within the county.

While the CCSD is a “minority/majority” organization, the decision-making process overwhelmingly rests in the hands of those who ethnically represent only 28 percent of the CCSD students. A number of independent school districts within the county, governed by five-member boards of local residents, would surely increase the diversity in school leadership within Clark County.

In reviewing the literature on school reform, there are two overriding issues that appear. First, successful reform depends on those affected having a voice in the reform. Second is that when the reform is done, that decision-making is best done as close to the student as possible.

I fully believe that we must temper all our personal wants, needs, and desires to the overriding principle of how will this benefit the individual student in the classrooms in Clark County.

While much of the reorganization has been about who is to control and maintain the power in the District, the important issue is how do we avoid the annual release of 7-8 thousand students who after twelve years in the Clark County School District fail to receive a diploma condemning them to the welfare rolls, prison, or both.

You can spend as much time and money as you like on streamlining central administrative services. When you have exhausted yourself doing that, you should come to realize not a single central office reform, computer update, or bureaucratic restructure is going to help a single student read better or raise the graduation rate.

The focus has to be on the local school. This can best be accomplished by giving the local community, principal, and teacher, the autonomy to teach the unique student in their unique environment. We need to build districts where neighborhood schools and community-based decision making are the norm.

If enough of the cities formed independent school districts, none would have over 100,000 students therefore NRS 388G. 500-810 would not be applicable. This should please Dr. Jara and his Board.

Thought of the week… The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”
– John Maxwell