Education
Don't forget Prussia
The basic difficulty with Nevada’s public school system is that it essentially runs on the principles of the old Soviet economy: “You can have anything you want as long as it’s what the party elite wants to give you.”
Redoubled Efforts and Forgotten Aims
"Fanaticism,” wrote the philosopher George Santayana back in 1905, “consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.”
Testing, testing...
As long as we have to live within the one-size-fits-all government school formula, the mixed messages will continue
The verdict is in, the headlines bleat: “Test scores are down!” The verdict is in, headlines blare: “Students improve in Terra Nova Tests!”
Competitive-Sourcing:
How Nevada's Biggest School District Can Save Millions in Transportation Costs
By conducting a competitive sourcing comparison of current and alternative student bus transportation services, the Clark County School District most likely would reduce operational costs by at least 10 percent, or some $4 million a year.
More Money Won’t Fix Nevada’s Education Deficit
During the 2001 legislative session, the Silver State’s lawmakers are unlikely to approve the Nevada State Education Association teacher union’s proposal for a business-profits tax. But the near-universal opposition to the union’s plan is ironic, since few—if any—legislators disagree with the justification offered for the new tax: the “need” to spend more money on Nevada’s government schools. Last week, Senator Ray Rawson, a member of the Legislature’s Education Committee, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “To get schools that are above average, you have to pay above average.” In December, the Las Vegas Sun’s Jon Ralston wrote of Governor Guinn’s “obvious desire to increase education funding.” It appears that the notion that schools will improve through increased funding is firmly rooted in Nevada. Sadly, it’s perhaps the most persistent myth in American public policy, a falsehood which does great damage to the cause of meaningful education reform. Herewith, a brief overview of the conclusive proof that no link exists between increased spending and increased student achievement.
No More Excuses: Goals for Education in Nevada
Nevada’s government schools have honorable intentions. Unfortunately, these intentions seldom generate meaningful results. For example, Nevada’s children are not able to read as well as they should. According to the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 21 percent of the Silver State’s fourth graders can read at or above grade level. Nevada has educational standards for reading and other key subjects—standards are not where the state is falling short. Rather, Nevada’s curriculum, testing measures and quality of teaching force all need to improve. Promising remedies to the state’s education woes include holding teachers and principals accountable for results, using accurate testing and assessment tools earlier and more frequently and harnessing the power of the market. These tools have worked in other states, and they will work in Nevada—if legislators can muster the courage to use them.
Class Size Reduction
The Half Billion Dollar Folly
Reducing class size is a persistently seductive idea. It just "seems" as if it should be advantageous to everyone: to the students who would garner more teacher time, to the teachers who would have less paper work, to the administrators who would have a contented staff and satisfied parents. It "feels" right, but it raises many questions. First of all, what is the optimum student/teacher ratio? How much does it cost? Will it favorably affect achievement?
Plato Knew
Although school reformers have not gone so far as attempting to reach the Platonic ideal student-teacher ratio of one to one, tutor to pupil, they have been enthusiastic advocates of reducing class size. It is a proposal Which has enormous popular and political appeal, one of those innovations that just "feels" like it should work. Some two decades of research studies have indicated a relationship between classes of fewer than 20 students in the early elementary grades and achievement gains for the children fortunate to be in them.
NPRI’s Second Annual ‘Overlooked Awards’
Later this month Project Censored, a left-wing media group, will reveal the ten stories it believes were "censored" by the nation’s mainstream press in 1998. The Nevada Policy Research Institute offered its first list of the stories the Silver State’s media ignore last year. Herewith, NPRI’s Second Annual Overlooked Awards. The following are not censored stories but rather topics which got little (or flawed) press coverage in 1998, due to reporters’ laziness and/or lack of understanding—not to mention the well-funded snow jobs often orchestrated by special interests in Nevada.
Competitive Contracting for School Support Services
A Savings for Nevada of $52-$58 Million Per Year
Saving money without compromising services ought to be a chief concern of school administrators. To help channel more resources into instructional programs, school administrators are increasingly turning to the efficiencies of the private sector for services such as public transportation, facilities maintenance and cafeteria operations.
