School choice
Courage to reform
Spending more per student has not produced the results we've been promised for the last 50 years. To make matters worse, it seems there is a very small but negative relationship between spending more money on education and low-income student achievement. Spending more money on education is a policy that appears to leave the poor behind.
Read moreDoes more spending increase student performance?
When one takes capital outlays, school debt and other payments into the equation, Nevada's K-12 per-pupil spending was $10,420 in 2006 (in 2008 dollar values), which moves Nevada's per-pupil spending ranking up to 31st in the nation from the 44th ranking often cited. As interesting as this is, the per-pupil ranking is still useless.
Moving on up
Nevada's actual per-pupil spending in 2006 was $9,738 (total expenditures divided by student population). That figure is 32.5 percent higher than the state's reported official figure of $7,345.
Just the facts
The Las Vegas Sun has published several articles and op-eds, almost one a day over the last week and a half, lamenting our budget and educational funding "crisis." Despite all these articles few real facts are actually offered.
Baby steps
A step in the right direction! Whether considered baby steps or leaps and bounds, August 2008 has brought movement in the right direction for school choice in Nevada.
Good news for school choice
Recently, KNPR public radio 88.9 interviewed Clark County school trustee candidates for seats A and B in separate interviews. Seats A and B are currently held by Mary-Beth Scow and Ruth Johnson, respectively. Both incumbents were disqualified from running after Nevada's Supreme Court upheld term limits. The races are anyone's game.
Back to charter schools
Good news returns just in time for school. The Nevada State Board of Education ended the moratorium on approving new charter schools, but there is more to do if we want to improve education.
Think gas prices are high? Think again
From 1961-2005, federal and state education spending per pupil grew 247 percent after adjusting for inflation. That is massive growth.
