LETTER: End economic segregation in the schools

It’s time to stop “economic segregation” in Nevada’s public school system.

Students from families at or below the poverty line, and those living in rural areas — white, Black, Brown, students of all races — have been doomed to failing schools for decades by the lack of mobility needed to attend the school of their choice. Students from wealthier families have parents who can provide transportation or move to the right neighborhood and choose the right school.

The Clark County School District has been able to transport about 300,000 students every day. Yet even though superintendents and administrators advanced degrees and are well paid by the taxpayers, they can’t figure out over these many decades how to budget and enact a system of transportation for those who wish to take advantage of the public-school choice option?

Gov. Joe Lombardo wants to be known for his education initiatives. It’s time he stepped up to the plate on this with money directed specifically for this issue. It’s time he appointed people to the state Board of Education who are “educational activists” and are willing to act and are not pseudo-principals and superintendents. The Board of Education has been negligent for years in making policy on this issue.

The legislators, especially the Democrats who are in power and control the purse strings, must take responsibility for this issue as well.

The mechanisms, except for mobility, are in place for public-school choice to take effect and allow those students in failing schools to be able to attend a school that will meet their needs and allow them to develop their God-given gifts and be prepared for opportunities to fulfill their dreams. It’s time to end “economic segregation.”