LETTERS: Charter schools won’t help Nevada

To the editor:

According to a recent editorial, re-elected Gov. Brian Sandoval has vowed to fix Nevada’s dismal education rankings (“Sandoval’s chance to reform Nevada,” Nov. 5 Review-Journal). While I agree we must improve our education funding, some of the Review-Journal’s recommended reforms are based on faulty premises pushed by business-backed organizations that have their own agendas.

For example, merit pay for teachers has been tried and failed, largely due to the false assumption that teachers are primarily motivated by money — rather than professionalism — and due to the use of “junk science,” such as basing teacher evaluations on test scores, which highly correlate to the socio-economic status of students.

But what concerns me the most is the false idea that charter schools and vouchers for private schools will improve education in Nevada. Passing “parent trigger” laws to allow charter schools to take over public school buildings is a terrible idea. It has been tried in districts such as Los Angeles with chaotic results. Furthermore, study after study, scandal after scandal, demonstrates that the current charter school movement is a failed experiment in public education. It has resulted in siphoning funds from neighborhood schools (leaving them worse off than before), generating huge profits for companies and individuals using public money, and producing test scores that on average are no better, and often worse, than public schools.

If there is some magic that is working at the few successful charter schools that do teach the same demographic mix of students as the local public schools, then let’s do that for all students. Let’s remember that 90 percent of parents are still choosing to enroll their children in neighborhood schools. Our political leaders must remember that their duty is to improve education for all, and that their decisions need to be based on proven methods, not special interests.

REGINA ROYBAL

HENDERSON

Fix education, then fund it

To the editor:

Why doesn’t the Clark County School District start at the beginning instead of trying to back-door us? The district can get the National Education Association to lobby those in Washington, D.C., to change the law regarding illegal, undocumented immigrants attending local schools. The Latino Chamber of Commerce can be proactive by taking the high road and offering classes in English. There are plenty of successful Latino businesses in Las Vegas to back this.

The elementary school near us is approximately 95 percent Latino, with almost all students speaking only Spanish. This makes it almost impossible for the teachers to educate. It only drags down the other students.

When CCSD and the Clark County School Board can clean up the mess, then we, the taxpayers, may get on board about future funding. All we see is waste. The logic of education officials is to throw enough money at any situation, hoping that will make it better. I think the voters are finally seeing through this fallacy.

RICHARD W. ANDERSON

LAS VEGAS

Midterm message

To the editor:

Big business and the miserly voters have spoken to our kids again. What they said was, “You are not valued and are not to get any money to help you learn.” Business doesn’t want to be responsible, and many voters moved here for the low taxes.

This state needs to become aware of the major problem that underlies our inadequate schools. The only agencies that care are the county school districts. No one else “owns” the education process, therefore, no one else has any responsibility to the students in this state. In fact, all of the other governmental agencies compete against the school districts for state and federal dollars.

We must remember that schools reflect the society they are in — inadequate schools come from an inadequate, uncaring society. If we wish it to be any different, we must stop criticizing and obstructing everything the districts try to do. We must become part of the solution, by adequately funding schools, sharing in the responsibility for our kids and working with the various districts to improve the situation.

BERNARD L. SPILLER

LAS VEGAS